A Little Bundle of BIG Courage

By Steve | Published: September 1, 2009

One look into the eyes of this child and you will be swept away. Read her story and you will be amazed that such strength and courage can come in such a small package. My good friends Tim and Midge Kerr will be dedicating their Splash N’ Dash event this weekend in Avalon to the Love family. I will have an opportunity to meet Taylor and her family on Saturday and am looking forward to witnessing first hand the contagious spirit that defines Taylor Love. I will have plenty more to share next week, but wanted to give you a glimpse …

A message from the parents of Taylor Love …

Taylor’s Story

Taylor Nicole Love was born June 27th, 2005 a beautiful, blue-eyed, blonde-haired baby girl. Her sparkling blue eyes told us she would be a charming, joyful sister to her brothers Adam and Kyle. As she sang and danced in anticipation of Christmas 2006, we noticed a bruised and apparent lazy eye. First a visit to her pediatrician followed by a trip to an ophthalmologist led us to our eventual nightmare. On December 12, 2006 our 18 month old baby girl was hospitalized and diagnosed with stage IV, high risk neuroblastoma a deadly cancer with no known cure. She had a tumor on her left adrenal gland, a tumor behind each eye and disease in her bone marrow. We would now learn what a horrible, aggressive and relentless disease this is.

Since her diagnosis Taylor has endured countless procedures, biopsies, blood transfusions and stays in the hospital. She has undergone 7 rounds of high dose chemotherapy, a surgery to remove the tumor in her abdomen and a stem cell harvest. She has completed 4 rounds of a phase I clinical trial which included immunotherapy treatment and IV radiation. She had undergone radiation treatments to her head, orbits and abdomen and is currently undergoing treatment in a phase II antibody trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC.

Even as these treatments beat down her body, Taylor amazes us with her strength, courage, and contagious spirit. We continue to be inspired by our sweet little angel, with her sparkling blue eyes and cheerful smile. Watching Taylor play with her brothers and listening to her sing gives us the hope and strength we need to walk down this long uncertain road.

To learn more about Taylor and neuroblastoma, including ways you can help, please visit www.taylorlove.org
For more on this weekends Splash N’ Dash, please visit www.timkerrcharities.org

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An Anchor or a Sail

By Steve | Published: September 1, 2009

Pick one – an anchor or a sail. Choose wisely because whatever you choose to be, you are stuck with. Are you the kind of person that supports and promotes free and open thinking ? Do you live by the ideal that most things are possible if you want them badly enough ? Do you DO for the sake of what is RIGHT ? Or do your own fears, insecurities, and anxieties hold you back as well as those around you? Do you feel the obsessive need to pull tight on someone’s reigns simply because you can and you need to control … something or someone.

Figure it out … an anchor or a sail.
Be who you are.

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15 Simple Ways To Improve Your Athletic Performance Right Now

By Steve | Published: August 28, 2009

Click HERE for this valuable racing and training info from our friends at Hammer Nutrition.

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Survivor Story

By Steve | Published: August 26, 2009

Below is an article published in an edition of Runner’s World Magazine. It is yet another reminder that sport can and does play a key role in the research and treatment of diseases. And another reminder of what the human spirit is capable of.

In May 2004, Bill Crews finished the worst six months of his life. a competitive swimmer and coach, Crews had been training for his first triathlon when his shoulder got sore. He went to the doctor thinking he had torn a rotator cuff and came out learning he had cancer.

The 37-year-old father of two often rode his bike to his office north of Houston, where he works as a systems advisor. Now he and his wife, Dana-Sue, also a competitive swimmer, would be driving 25 miles back and forth to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Bill had stage-four non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an aggressive cancer of the blood that strikes 70,000 Americans annually and kills 20,000. His doctor prescribed chemotherapy that included Rituxan, an immunotherapy that attacks the cancer cells and a highly toxic chemical that cancer patients call “Red Devil,” which must be slowly dripped into the heart through a catheter for 48 hours. Crews could feel each drop of heat in his heart. “I was exhausted and sick,” he says. “I often wondered if I would survive.”

Once the worst of his treatments were over, Dana-Sue urged him to join the runners they had seen in the neighborhood park. Their purple and white shirts said Team in Training. Bald from chemotherapy, Bill was self-conscious about going to a meeting. “It’s the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,” Dana-Sue said. “I think they can handle a bald guy.”

Bill discovered that Team in Training (TNT) has trained 360,000 people to compete in endurance events and has raised $850 million in the process. That money had helped fund the advanced chemotherapy that saved his life.

“I left my first meeting with a training group and a support group, one that would help me get my life back,” he says.

Five months later, Bill finished his first sprint triathlon (750-meter swim, 12-mile bike, 3.1-mile run). While undergoing a less intensive form of chemotherapy, he moved up to the Olympic and the half-Ironman distances. In January 2005, he ran the Houston Half-Marathon, and he’s done the full 26.2 every year since.

Cancer has transformed the entire family. Dana-Sue has written a children’s book explaining how their kids, Morgan and Dylan, helped their dad fight cancer with love and prayers. Her royalties go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She has also started competing in triathlons and marathons and coaches TNT runners. Dylan and Morgan, now 10 and 7, completed their first kids’ triathlon when they were just 7 and 4.

Bill and Dana-Sue are what the society calls “first connectors.” They talk to patients and their families about what to expect. They have created a Web site with a diary of their fight against cancer and have raised $40,000 for the society. Both consider Bill’s cancer a blessing.

“After cancer, you see things a little differently,” Bill says. “We don’t believe that God has caused my cancer but that he’s using it to open doors that never would have been opened before.”

Most notably: the Ironman. In April, Bill and Dana-Sue completed their first 140-mile-long endurance event (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run) in Tempe, Arizona. The temperature for the cycling portion was 95° F, with heavy wind gusts. “People were crashing their bikes and throwing up,” says Dana-Sue. “But it wasn’t nearly as scary as driving home from the hospital on a flooded freeway at night with your husband throwing up out the back window.” Bill came in at 15 hours, 37 minutes, and 55 seconds, about 27 minutes ahead of his wife.

Now 41, Bill is in the best shape of his life. This fall, he’ll run the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon and will become a certified triathlon coach. In January, he’ll start coaching for TNT. His sandy hair has grown back, and he sports a graying goatee and a twinkle in his eye. Everything does look a little different after cancer, especially that word on the back of his Ironman T-shirt: Finisher.

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Quote of the Week – #2

By Steve | Published: August 24, 2009

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Post-Life Survey

By Steve | Published: August 22, 2009

You know how you often need to complete a checklist after you have finished using, renting, borrowing, etc something ? And this checklist would basically attest to the condition in which you are returning whatever it is that you used. Well, I’m thinking that a post life survey checklist of some kind might be a good idea. You would need to somehow complete this in your final days of life. These could be answered “YES”, “NO”, with a line for “COMMENTS”. Mine would go something like this:

1). I lived my life to the fullest of my potential.
2). I tried my very best to everyday be kind to those around me.
3). Although I may not have been wealthy, I always found a way to offer something to those with less.
4). I lived my life with the understanding that while our children are our future, our elderly are our history. And both groups need to be nurtured.
5). I may not have been perfect, but I always tried to set positive examples for my family and tried to be the best husband, father, and person that I could.
6). Although I got angry, I tried not to react to too many situations out of anger and chose my words carefully so as to not scar anyone.
7). I loved my animals and treated them as family.
8). I realized that others were as imperfect as I and gave people second chances.
9). I genuinely believed and fostered the idea that in spite of the headlines that you read, there is still good in the world.
10). I believed in me.

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Zohn to Field All-Star Team for ING NYC Marathon

By Steve | Published: August 20, 2009

Team to raise money to spread the message of its HIV/AIDS life-skills program in Africa

Grassroot Soccer (GRS), an international non-profit organization that uses the power of soccer to provide African youth with the knowledge and life skills necessary to live HIV-free, announced today that it will field an all-star team of runners to compete in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 1. This is the first year the GRS Marathon Team (www.grassrootsoccer.org/marathon) will participate in the official marathon charity program.

“Grassroot Soccer is honored to bring together such a great group of runners and to be able to use the ING New York City Marathon to unite all of them around the common cause of fighting HIV/AIDS,” said Ethan Zohn, the GRS co-founder and Survivor: Africa winner.

GRS’s celebrity team includes American actor Scott Wolf, Canadian actor Donal Logue, Pitchmen host Anthony Sullivan, Amazing Race 1 winner Brennan Swain, Bachelorette winner Ryan Sutter, Survivor alumni Ian Rosenberger and Chad Crittenden, (RED) International CEO Seb Bishop, and Major League Soccer executive Neel Shah.

Also joining Ethan’s team is Philadelphia area resident Stephen Brown. Brown, a former collegiate and semi professional soccer goalkeeper, is a 20 year veteran of marathons and multisport events including the ironman triathlon. He is also a leukemia survivor as well as a triathlon coach with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s TEAM IN TRAINING program.

“Grassroot Soccer is exactly the kind of ground-level organization that can help slow and eventually stop the spread of AIDS among young people in Africa,” said Wolf, who ran the ING New York City Marathon in 2003.

The star-studded team will raise money to support the organization’s goal of putting 1.25 million African youth through the GRS program by the time of the 2010 World Cup, which will be held in South Africa. The program uses soccer to create an HIV and AIDS life-skills curriculum. To date, more than 280,000 children have graduated from GRS’s programs.

“It’s a natural fit for Grassroot Soccer to be aligned with the marathon because of a shared commitment to using sport to help kids lead healthier and fitter lives,” said Mary Wittenberg, New York Road Runners president and CEO and race director for the ING New York City Marathon. “Running is a key part of both our missions, and we welcome them to our group of partners. This team’s star power certainly ups the ante in combining fun and fund-raising.”

A field of more than 40,000 is expected to participate in the 40th running of the ING New York City Marathon; this would be the largest in the storied history of the race. The Marathon is a vehicle for change for the more than 80 non-profits that comprise the official charitable runner program, through which runners can raise funds and gain awareness for a wide array of causes. This year, more than 6,800 runners aim to collectively raise an all-time high of $21 million.

About Grassroot Soccer
Founded by former professional soccer players in 2002, Grassroot Soccer (GRS) trains African soccer stars, coaches, teachers, and peer educators in the world’s most HIV-affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth. Translating research into action and leveraging the excitement around the 2010 World Cup, GRS attracts and engages young people through schools, community outreach, and social multimedia (e.g. magazines and TV). GRS has educated more than 270,000 kids via its ‘Skillz’ curriculum, and is a leader in the sport for development movement. For more information on the GRS Marathon Team or to make a donation, visit www.GrassrootSoccer.org/marathon.

About New York Road Runners
New York Road Runners, founded in 1958, is dedicated to promoting the sport of distance running, enhancing health and fitness for all, and responding to community needs. Our road races and other fitness programs draw upwards of 300,000 runners annually, and together with our magazine and website support and promote professional and recreational running. A staff of more than 100, assisted by thousands of volunteers, stages the ING New York City Marathon, as well as a road race nearly every weekend plus many track and cross country events. NYRR’s home base in New York, and its lifelong identification with Central Park, have given many of its events iconic status, attracting the world’s top professional runners. Our youth programs provide running to nearly 100,000 schoolchildren in New York City, around the country, and in South Africa who would otherwise have few or no fitness opportunities. For more information visit www.nyrr.org.

About the ING New York City Marathon
Celebrating its 40th running in 2009, the ING New York City Marathon is one of the world’s great road races and the premier event of New York Road Runners, drawing more than 100,000 applicants annually. Since the inception of the official charity program in 2006, more than 13,600 runners have raised nearly $50 million. As any one of the nearly 788,000 past participants will attest, crossing the finish line in Central Park is one of the great thrills of a lifetime. For more information, visit www.ingnycmarathon.org.

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Quote of the Week – #1

By Steve | Published: August 18, 2009

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.

- Woodrow Wilson

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A Family Affair

By Steve | Published: August 17, 2009

This past weekend I attended a family weekend. My wife’s niece married an amazing guy that she met in the DC area where they are both school teachers. The wedding itself was about 3 miles from our home and the reception was no more that 20 minutes away. So, I would certainly consider this a very local celebration. (for many of us anyway). The groom however had family travelling in from as far away as Germany. I looked around the room at the reception and I saw a truly united family or I guess I should say united families with no regard for race, nationality, religious background, beliefs, hair color, shoe size, dress size, or anything else.

As soon as we got to the reception, the dance floor was immediately filled with a handful of young children – all under the age of about 7 or 8. In that mix of kids were; a fair haired Irish kid, two African American kids (the little boy was the ring bearer), and a brother & sister who were recently adopted from the Republic of Moldova. All of whom now related by some kind of dotted line. These kids took turns holding hands and jumping and dancing around the room with huge smiles and plenty of laughter. These kids knew nothing except laughter, fun, and the party that was already in full swing. Some of these kids had just met each other this weekend yet they spoke and understood a universal language. They didn’t know prejudice. They didn’t know hate. They didn’t even know difference. They knew people. They knew family. They knew togetherness.

mcclain wedding 2My brother in law (our wives are sisters so we refer to ourselves as the Snyder family “outlaws”), turned to me and pointed to the dance floor and said “How in the hell do people screw THAT up as adults”? I wanted to captured an ounce of the mindset that those kids had, bottle it, and give it to the rest of the world. Let’s face it, weddings come in a very mixed bag of varieties… some fun … some little more than obligatory. But this wedding was different for me. As I met more and more of the groom’s family and friends throughout the day (which included military officers, and Deacons of the Catholic Church), I truly felt honored and felt like everyone was made a little better and a little stronger as a result of the union. The chemistry that was in that room is capable of much greatness.

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The Man, The Katalyst

By Steve | Published: August 14, 2009

If I have yet to introduce you to a friend of mine, I’d like to do so now. To know the “work” (play) of the Katalyst is to know creativity, compassion, energy, and brilliance. To know Kevin – the man – is to know someone extremely extraordinary in all that he is. I have had the pleasure of knowing Kevin for well over 30 years. We were basketball and soccer teammates at Haverford High School in Havertown Pennsylvania where we both had the opportunity to play under legendary coaches Ted Keyser and Steve Juenger; two men who have certainly influenced my life and have undoubtedly influenced Kevin’s. (See my prior post Three Wise Men) 

I lived in Ardmore and Kevin in Bryn Mawr so we often car pooled back and forth to practice at the high school. I have some great memories of Kevin the man and Kevin the athlete.

Kevin is one year older than me and when he was a junior, he was cut from the varsity basketball team and sent down to JV (where I was). This could have been a tough blow for some to handle as many of his friends played varsity that year. But I watched Kev closely and I saw how he handled himself with grace and dignity. Kevin became a role model and standout on that JV basketball team. He was a great teammate for me and we related very well on a number of levels.

The next year, as a senior, of course Kevin played varsity ball. I on the other hand found myself in Kevin’s situation from the year before. I too was cut from varsity as a junior and sent down to play JV. But I didn’t even hesitate because Kevin had already paved the road for me. I knew what kind of a leader and  athlete I needed to be. Kev set the bar high but I ended up having a fantastic year.

We lost touch for a number of years but I am happy to say that we reconnected full force a couple of years ago and have both been spinning in similar circles. We share a certain NEED to make things a little better. Kev is just one of those good people that you genuinely feel honored to call a good and old friend. Below is Kev’s full bio from his website.

Kevin Carroll is the founder of Kevin Carroll Katalyst/LLC and the author of three highly successful books published by ESPN, Disney Press and McGraw-Hill. As an author, speaker and agent for social change (a.k.a. the Katalyst), it is Kevin’s “job” to inspire businesses, organizations and individuals – from CEOs and employees of Fortune 500 companies to schoolchildren – to embrace their spirit of play and creativity to maximize their human potential and sustain more meaningful business and personal growth.

With his consulting endeavors, Kevin has helped turn creative ideas into reality for organizations such as The National Hockey League, ESPN, Nike, Starbucks (his words appeared on 17 million Grande cups), The National Basketball Association, The Walt Disney Company, Mattel, Hasbro, Procter & Gamble, The Discovery Channel, Capital One, and many others.

Raised by his grandparents in Philadelphia, Kevin spent endless hours at the neighborhood playground where he found his calling: a red rubber ball. His subsequent pursuit of play and his “red rubber ball” took him overseas with the Air Force, where he served as a language interpreter and translator, gaining fluency in Croatian, Czech, Serbian, and German.

After serving in the Air Force for ten years and earning his college degree, Kevin became an athletic trainer at the high school and collegiate levels in Philadelphia. His expertise in sport performance recognized by the 76ers organization and led to his job as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Philadelphia 76ers in 1995. While at the 76ers, Nike tapped Kevin to bring his unique experiences to the sneaker giant in 1997. Although no job “officially” existed at the time, Kevin was directed to create a position at the company that would add value to the overall mission of the brand. Kevin accepted the challenge and stayed for seven years as “Katalyst” (the ‘K’ is for Kevin) – a creative change agent. At Nike, he was instrumental in helping the company develop a deeper understanding of athletic product performance, team dynamics and interpersonal communication. Kevin left Nike in 2004 to create his own company, Kevin Carroll Katalyst/LLC, committed to elevating the power of sport and play around the world.

In May of 2005, a notable moment occurred when Kevin addressed dignitaries from 31 nations at the United Nations about the importance of play in their developing countries. Kevin is also heavily involved with many social entrepreneur organizations that use sports as a catalyst to change lives.

Kevin holds a MS in Health Education from St. Joseph’s University, a BA in Speech Communication with a minor in Physical Education from Angelo State University, and an Associates Degree in Interpreting and Translating from the Community College of The Air Force. Kevin is also a frequent visiting adjunct lecturer across the United States.

For more on Kevin, visit www.kevincarrollkatalyst.com

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"Be the change you wish to see in the world " - Gandhi
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