Running the Oregon PCT for Brave Like Gabe

My mother definitely had fears, but she didn’t dwell on them and she never let them slam the door on her biggest and scariest challenges. 

In honor of my very brave mom Andrea Halnon, who passed away in January, after a 13 month battle against a rare uterine cancer, I will be chasing my scariest - and most exciting - running goal yet. On August 1st, I will be attempting to run the Oregon stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail that travels 453 miles from California to Washington(!!!). And I’m going to try to set a Fastest Known Time - and raise some money for the Brave Like Gabe Foundation  and rare cancer research while doing it.

You can support this run and cheer me through every single mile with a powerful gift of $4.53 or $45.30 to the Brave Like Gabe Foundation—to help give other individuals diagnosed with rare cancer, and their families, more options, and more hope. 

After my mom was diagnosed with a rare uterine cancer, our family experienced firsthand how hard and terrifying it is to receive a rare cancer diagnosis when there are fewer treatment options and limited information. The Brave Like Gabe Foundation is doing extraordinary work to change that difficult reality by helping to find better and more effective treatments for rare cancer. The foundation also honors professional runner Gabe Grunewald’s incredible and beautiful legacy by spreading hope and empowering people to stay active through their hardest struggles - something my mom did with inspiring dedication. 


There are a few powerful forces that have motivated me to tackle this beast of a run - and I believe they are the same things that are going to help me keep putting one foot in front of the other all the way across Oregon. 

I am running to be brave in the face of something huge and scary, a desire that was inspired by my mom, the bravest, most badass woman and athlete. I want to honor and celebrate her bottomless courage and unshakeable strength through the bravery and grit it will take to start - and finish this run. 

My mom ran her first marathon at 50! She learned how to swim so she could do her first triathlon at 60! And she fought cancer with more courage, strength, and real, live joy than I knew possible.

I certainly have my own fears heading into this run (Cougars! 453 MILES. Really horrible foot stuff! Telling you about it! Failing!), but I want to be like my very brave and determined mama and go for it anyway - and get really excited about seeing what I can do out there.

If you want to support this run and have the means, please consider a meaningful gift of $4.53 (or $45.30!) to match the number of miles I will be running. Or maybe the cost of a cheese pizza or a running shoe or two, things that will fuel this run, alongside hope and courage.

Your gift could be the funding needed to allow someone else’s mom, sister, partner, or best friend to conquer big incredible feats at 70 or 80 or even well past 90. Your gift could change the trajectory of another family’s history from grief to triumph.

Thank you for supporting my run, for honoring my brave and badass mom Andrea Halnon, and for helping the Brave Like Gabe Foundation boost rare cancer research and hope.

I'll be posting updates during the run on instagram  (@emilysweats) and will share a tracking link before I start so you can track my progress and hear all about the adventures and misadventures along the way.