I shared this via e-mail with the e-mail addresses I could scrounge up, but wanted to share it here too, in case I missed anyone.
It’s race week! In three days I leave for Nashville, and in four days I will run my little heart out for 13.1 miles in hopes of showing my disease formerly known as ulcerative colitis (but now known as Crohn’s disease) that it’s got NOTHING on family, friends, and this little tough cookie right here. (Yeah, ME.)
Showing how tough I am — last year in Vegas.
Most of you know I have been going through a lot lately. I wasn’t even sure if I should take on Team Challenge in the midst of everything else. But I knew how much hope Team Challenge brought me after an awful flare last summer, and I hoped that I could find some more hope in it this year. (How many times can one girl use the word hope in a sentence? Geesh.)
You all know I bit the bullet and signed up. Donations trickled in, and I was panicked. I didn’t think I’d make the amount that I committed to raise, let alone come anywhere near my lofty $5000 goal. But they continued to come, little by little, in an amount that has floored me. I am overwhelmed with the love and support I have been shown.
My rocks. Best parents ever and a huge support always.
Thanks to all of you, I have come very close indeed — closer than I ever thought possible. To date, 104 different people have donated to CCFA on my behalf this season. You have all donated a total of $4,785.00 so far — just $215 away from that lofty goal I set. Right now I’m even the top fundraiser in the country!
I promise that all of you who have donated will get a proper thank you once I’m home from the race and have pictures to share, but for now, I just wanted to tell you that I will be taking every single one of you with me this weekend. If the race gets tough, I will be thinking of the 104 people who believe in me and believe in better treatments and a cure for the disease that I — and so many of my friends — live with every day. Your support means more than you know.
Thank you from the bottom of my inflamed large intestine! 
(And okay, my heart, too.)
Love,
Lauren
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so excited to be running with you on Saturday!!!!
I am so glad you get to come! Can’t wait!
That’s what I love about the IBD community. No matter what I’m going through, colitis related or not, they are always there for me. Go show Frank who’s boss this weekend!
[...] I raised $5200 for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America as a Team Challenge Participant. I had alot going on this summer, to say the least. I was hesitant to sign up to be a Team Challenge participant for the brand-new Nashville race, but I knew that my chances to be a participant were limited. (I can’t participate at any race that Team Illinois has a team, because I’m working!) I bit the bullet and signed up, and I am so glad that I did. I ended up being the event’s top fundraiser and having a blast in Nashville with friends. It was a much-needed “Lauren weekend” in the midst of a tough time, and I am proud to have raised $10,000 for CCFA in a year’s time. (Between Las Vegas 2011 and Nashville 2012) Fellow Endurance Manager Becky and me, showing off our Top Fundraiser bibs [...]