Scott and Brad's Marathon for ALS Network

This whole Marathon thing didn't sound too bad 6-months ago. Maybe we were just naive to the level of difficulty involved in training for a 26-mile race. Maybe we were a smidge overly confident, or maybe, just maybe, our sibling rivalry got the best of us. Whatever the reason, when Scott brought up the idea of running the Big Sur International Marathon last September, we signed up without thinking twice.

Turns out marathons are REALLY hard to train for! Now, several months of training, a few pairs of shoes and a lot of complaint-ridden phone calls later, we’re starting to wonder why we ever signed up for this thing - the April 28th race date is fast approaching.

On a recent training run, Brad found himself climbing one of the steepest hills in San Francisco. He tried dreaming of the pastry waiting for him at the end of the run, but croissant cravings only get you so far. Just when the thought of quitting crept into his mind, Brad thought of his job.

As many of you know, Brad has been working with the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) community in his clinical research role at UCSF. Better known as Lou Gerhig's Disease, ALS is a terminal neurodegenerative condition that is characterized by progressive muscular weakness. The unforgiving nature of this disease means patients may enroll in clinical trials with nearly full function, but be using a wheelchair, breathing assistance, and feeding tubes by the end of the study. Reminded by what a privilege it is to feel the burn in his legs, the swing of his arms, and the strain of his breath, Brad took on a whole new perspective to marathon training.

Brad has built strong, long-term relationships with his research patients and is constantly inspired by their unbreakable spirits, courage, and perspective on morality. As we’ve talked about the challenges ALS poses to patients and the struggles that they and their families go through, Scott has gained an enormous sense of respect for this community as well.

As a result, we’ve decided to turn this marathon into a fundraiser for this community that we’ve come to care about and admire. We will be running to support the ALS Network. This foundation provides support for ALS patients and their families in the Northern California region. Brad has worked closely with this organization through his job and has seen the incredible relationships built between the care managers and ALS community. Their purpose is to help ALS patients live longer and better by providing resources and support for the patient's and their loved ones. More information about their mission and services can be found at the link below:

https://alsnetwork.org/

If you’d like to support us in our marathon in support of the ALS Network, we would truly appreciate your donation. We are blessed to be able to run this race and are excited to help give back to this community. As a thank you for your donation, we will list out the names of all our donors on the back of our shirts on race day!

Thank you to all who can help! If you can’t, words of support, running tips and song recommendations are much appreciated too! Thank you all and we’ll see you at Big Sur!

Scott + Brad