Who am I?
I'm Shelly, a 31-year-old stay-at-home mom living in West Hartford, CT. My daughter, Liliana, is 18 months old.In 2011, I trained for and ran the Nike Women's Marathon in honor of my friend Caitlin, who had been diagnosed with leukemia. While she lost her battle that December, I am continuing to run in her memory, until there's a cure.
One of my biggest passions is volunteer work. I started volunteering when I was 14 — choosing to volunteer instead of work while in high school — and have never stopped. Moving to Hartford in 2010 was difficult for me because it meant I had to leave the people and community I loved to help so much. Which gets me to the next part —
Why am I doing this?
I'd considered Team In Training in the past, though I never felt like I could do it. I'm a fan of doing awesome things for good causes, however, and told myself that I would definitely do it eventually — it was just a matter of when it fit into my life.I'm not sure if I was waiting for a sign, but it came in 2011, when I found out that my good friend (and practically sister) Caitlin was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
I met Caitlin in 1999, when I was 16 and she was only 8, after I taught myself to ice skate so that I could volunteer for the Gliding Stars of Rochester. The organization helps teach children and adults with disabilities how to skate. Caitlin and I were paired together, and quickly developed a great friendship along with some awesome skating skills. I was devastated to have to leave her after over 10 years to move to Hartford, and even more heartbroken when I heard about her diagnosis.
When a friend of mine mentioned Team In Training, I was scared at the thought of running that far — until I realized that if Caitlin is strong enough to get through 5 months of chemotherapy with a smile, I'm strong enough to get through 5 months of marathon training to help more people survive leukemia and lymphoma. I went from non-runner to marathon runner in just a few months, and crossed that finish line, having raised over $3,000 for leukemia and lymphoma research.
When Caitlin passed, I was determined to keep running for her, but I became pregnant with my daughter in 2012 and was battling severe anemia after having her in 2013. I knew 2014 would be my year to come back! While I definitely am in no shape to run a marathon again right now -- nor do I have the time now that I'm chasing a toddler! -- I'm excited to get back on the pavement and train to run a 5-mile race with my daughter in tow.
