Guest Post: In lieu of a cake with 16 candles

Hey guys! I thought I would switch it up a little bit today, and give my teammate Kendra an opportunity to spread the word about the wonderful thing she is doing.  Hats off to Kendra and her family.  What you are doing is absolutely amazing!  Here's her post:


In lieu of a cake with 16 candles, I celebrated my sweet 16 hiking to the top of Yosemite’s Half Dome with my father. Side by side, we powered through the 17-mile round-trip, gaining and then descending 4000 vertical feet.

Kendra and her dad atop Yosemite's Half Dome for her 16th birthday

For 31 years, my father and I have built our relationship on adventures—making first tracks down freshly powdered slopes, longboarding in the glassiest of surf, serving up aces on our local tennis courts, and pounding the pavement through the streets of San Diego.

So, when my father was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer called multiple myeloma in 2003, I planned our next adventure with a greater sense of urgency.

My father’s 2:32 marathon best is a testament to his belief in the impossible. Self-coached, new to the sport in his mid-twenties, and without the benefits of modern endurance sport science, he hit awe-inspiring times with a diet of dedication and sweat. In the early 80s, however, he traded in his long, lonely training runs for skiing, surfing, tennis, and jogging with his little girls.

At the time of his diagnosis, it had been almost 25 years since his last marathon. I, then in my 25th year of life, had never run one. Although we had thrown around the idea of running a marathon together, it took this diagnosis to galvanize us into action.

Impossible though it seems, we trained, raced, and qualified for Boston together through the unrelenting fatigue caused by his cancer. My first marathon was his last. And he ran every. step. of. the. way. by. my. side.

Kendra and her dad running her first marathon together

Now eight years after he began fighting his life’s fiercest adversary, he has outlived myeloma’s five-year average survival rate.  Inspired by his trademark ability to outperform all odds, I will attempt a feat I once deemed impossible—completing an Ironman Triathlon…twice.

While my dad won’t lace up his shoes next to mine in our next great adventure, he will again be right by my side. every. step. of. the. way. I will hear him in every conversation I have with myself when my body tells me I can’t, but my dad knows that I can.   

Read more about my story and join my team: http://www.active.com/donate/mmrfIronman/Poppy