After months of freezing runs through snow and slush, Nicole Garceau will be running the Boston Marathon on April 20, 2015!
APRIL UPDATE:
4.6.15: Milestone Monday. Only 14 days until the marathon, turning the big 4-0 today, completing my longest run a week ago (22 miles), surpassing my fundraising goal and having so much support has been phenomenal! I am incredibly thankful for all of the amazing people who have been behind me, cheering me on, throughout my 16 week training program. It’s absolutely awesome! Receiving so many genuine messages filled with words of encouragement; making new friends who are currently fighting rare cancer; fundraising for TCF; and living out a dream of mine to run Boston by the time I’m 40 have made this experience a lifelong memory I will always cherish. Thank you seems very small for how appreciative I am of everyone’s support.
There’s still time to donate and support TCF. Every dollar is going directly to rare cancer research and today, thanks to TCF’s efforts, the first clinical trial for cholangiocarcinoma is underway!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Nicole xo
FEBRUARY UPDATE:
Now that I am halfway into my training, I wanted to share some updates. At 8 weeks, I have run over 155 miles; reached TCF’s fundraiser goal of $7,500; completed long runs in snowstorms, bitter cold temperatures and negative wind chills, and have also clocked some dreaded miles on the treadmill! And, I can honestly say, at no point have I felt like stopping. I am still as excited as the day I received the news that I was selected to run the Boston Marathon on behalf of TCF!
I set my fundraising goal at $12,000 and hope to surpass that amount because to me, there is no limit to finding cures for cancer. That devastating message “I am sorry, there is no cure or research for the type of cancer you have” needs to come to an end. It’s an awful message for a doctor to deliver and it’s a tragic one for a patient to receive and accept. TCF is funding rare cancer research so that message is never delivered again!
Thank you to all who have donated so far and to those who continue to cheer me on. Your encouragement and heartfelt words mean so much to me! My feet will run towards the finish line but thanks to TCF and to the emails I have received from so many people battling cancer today, my heart will give me the strength to lead the way! I am forever grateful for this opportunity and for everyone’s support. Please continue to donate. Xo
NICOLE’S STORY:
I am exceptionally honored and grateful to run my first Boston Marathon on behalf of TargetCancer! This is a surreal opportunity that I will cherish forever. Please read and share my story for why this fight is so important to me.
I am fortunate to have a very large and extremely close family who supports each other 100%. Having such a large family means more people I love have suffered and battled some form of cancer. Breast cancer, thyroid cancer, skin cancer, and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (a rare disease related to Leukemia and Lymphomas) have all hit our family. Receiving the news when each of these cancers impacted my family made me furious! My emotions ran the gamut from rage to helplessness. How could the people I love accept this news and what could I do to reassure them “we” will conquer this battle? And that’s when I realized that “WE” is the key word when facing cancer. We as a family, we as a community, we as researchers, and we as medical professionals need to support one another to find cures for all forms of cancers.
Although I have been fortunate to not have cancer, I have had a life long history of severe digestive issues and have seen several top specialists throughout Boston. I have experienced more tests than I can count; tried various trial medications that only led me to become sicker than I already was; and have had specialists tell me face to face that my condition is too unique, too rare, and far too challenging for them to help me. To a much lesser degree than many fighting horrific forms of cancer, I know what it’s like to have to be your own advocate and find cures to live a healthy lifestyle. While there were times over the years I wanted to cave and give up, it was my family’s support, love, and help that made me continue my fight and search for answers. Today, I continue to fight and I won’t give up!
My determination to raise money for TargetCancer comes from my role models who fought breast cancer and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis, my two aunts and my 10 year old cousin. Among all three of them, they have tackled radiation and chemotherapy and not once did any of them complain while receiving their treatments. On the contrary, they felt fortunate to have the support and love behind them. They are true fighters and I’m thankful to say they are also survivors! They are three people I will always look up to for strength and if they can battle cancer, I can certainly run 26.2 miles!!
In addition to my family’s history with cancer, I witnessed Paul’s fight with cholangiocarcinoma and the devastating impact it had on his family. I remember when Paul started TargetCancer and thinking wow, this man is a true, dedicated fighter and no one is going to stop him! Everyone who met Paul immediately fell in love with him for he was kind, generous, dedicated, thoughtful, energetic, and passionate about life and his family. Please visit TargetCancer’s website and read Paul’s story. I guarantee you’ll fall in love and want to continue his fight just like me.
Back in 2009, within two short months, Paul had raised $7,500 for the first donation to TargetCancer. My goal is to raise $12,000 as one of the first runners for TargetCancer. Every dollar is a step closer to a cure. I ask you to please help me spread the word and educate people on TargetCancer. What this foundation has accomplished in 5 short years is remarkable and it’s proven with the right funding, the right research, “WE” can absolutely overcome this obstacle with cancer once and for all!
I thank you all in advance for your contributions and for your support! It means so much to me.
I will share with you my progress along the way.. Let the training begin! 🙂