For Me It all Began as a Birthday Challenge

by Jill Bent

My journey to Team AllEars and the fight against breast cancer began when, with a significant birthday looming, I resolved to adopt a healthier lifestyle and weight. I decided to explore running and made use of a popular “Couch to 5K” program to start.

About a month into my training, I was planning a trip to Walt Disney World when purely by accident I discovered the inaugural Wine & Dine Half Marathon Weekend. Being a huge Disney fan and a new found ahem, “runner,” I was elated to discover that not only was the event taking place during my trip but (and here’s the really good part) it included a Halloween-themed 5K race. What could be more perfect than running my first 5K at Walt Disney World? The rest of the summer was like the night Cinderella went to the ball. Everything fell perfectly into place. I recruited a lifelong friend to join me in what we termed our “significant birthday challenge.” We trained through the hot Texas summer and before we knew it, we were heading to Walt Disney World. Mickey’s Halloween 5K was all that we had hoped it would be and we had the time of our lives running through the Magic Kingdom. We agreed we could not have picked a better place to try our hand at running. To celebrate our accomplishment Lisa and I planned to attend the Wine & Dine party at Epcot later that night, but on our way we stopped by the finish line to watch the half marathon. The pride and joy on the faces of the runners as they crossed the finish, the enthusiasm of the spectators and the energy”¦the energy Disney had created for the runners was truly amazing. Almost immediately we found ourselves swept up in the excitement and we realized at that point that our birthday challenge was not nearing an end but rather just beginning. We decided we would extend the challenge to run a 10K in the spring and return the following October to run Disney’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon.

After arriving back in Texas, we embarked on another six weeks of training and ran Leg #2 of our challenge at the Capitol 10K in Austin, Texas. We set out on a beautiful spring morning running through the Texas capitol complex, amidst the cheers of Texas Longhorn coach Mac Brown and alongside Lady Bird Johnson’s Town Lake to the finish. With Leg #2 on the books, it was now time to begin training for the big one. I admit the thought of running 13.1 miles was quite daunting as I had only been running about nine months which in my mind certainly didn’t classify me as a real runner. Since I realized I needed much more than a virtual coach, I signed up for a Galloway half marathon training program. I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Galloway at the Disney expo and purchased his book “Running until You’re 100.” His approach to injury-free running for older runners seemed to be a perfect fit for me. Almost simultaneously I also registered for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon because I knew that would carry me through the uncertainty of training.

Not being a morning person, my first step was to learn to rise at dawn to run. Every Sunday I would run with my Galloway group and what I worried might be an overwhelming experience quickly turned to one of the best experiences of my life. Oh don’t get me wrong, achieving new distances was challenging alright, but the program, the people and the Galloway experience overall was unmatched. From the very start, we learned to work together as a team, encouraging one another, exchanging ideas and becoming friends as we trained for whatever race we hoped to complete. Our leaders provided so much insight and direction that I quickly found myself looking forward to getting up before daybreak to run.

After a very harsh training season, summer finally turned to fall and it was once again time to head to Orlando. For the second time, we set off for Disney World filled with excitement and more than just a little apprehension.

On the day of the race, we woke early to watch Lisa’s nieces run the kids’ races before heading over to the expo to begin soaking up all of the excitement of race day. Once there we picked up our race gear, did too much shopping, took more than a few pictures and tried to distract ourselves as much as possible. After the expo, we headed back to the hotel for some lunch, pool time and an afternoon nap, but, despite our best efforts, napping was out of the question as pre-race jitters had really set in.

RunDisney’s slogan, “Runners Night Out”, could not have been more apropriate for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon as the party atmosphere was apparent from the time we boarded the bus. After a pre-race party at ESPN, we embarked on a 13.1 mile night run filled with the sights and sounds of Disney. The Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom, a preview of the Osborne Family Lights in Disney Studios, floats from the Main Street Electric Light Parade, Disney musicians and my favorite, Disney characters, lined the route. We made our final turn at Epcot and crossed the finish for the big prize”¦the Disney bling. We had done it! We had finished the birthday challenge and run a half marathon. It was truly a night to remember.

On the plane ride home, as I reflected on the past year, I quickly realized that so much of my new found enjoyment in my life was as a result of my decision to try running. I had just enjoyed an unforgettable experience with one of my dearest friends. I had met and made so many new friends from both the running community and the Disney community. I had improved my lifestyle. I had improved my outlook, and the pièce de résistance was that I had combined my love for running with my passion for Disney.

The Next Step – Adding a Purpose

I can still remember the tone of my mother’s voice as she said, I have breast cancer. The sense of helplessness hits you immediately and all I could think was, ” What do I say? What should I do?”

I had only known my mother as one of the most beautiful, vibrant women on the planet, but as I later sat with her during her first meeting with the oncologist, all I could see was fragility and fear. I knew the woman before me had been forever changed; she had cancer.

Shortly after my mother was diagnosed in 2010 I learned of Team AllEars and remember thinking how coincidental it was that this team of runners was raising money for breast cancer at Walt Disney World.

Fast forward to 2011, Mother was immersed in chemotherapy and the horrific lifestyle that accompanies it. During this time I would often find respite by running and I soon discovered that my running gave Mother and I both a little peace as it provided us something to share that didn’t involve diagnoses, medical procedures or treatments.

So as I sat on the plane that day thinking about a next step, I already knew the answer. I wanted to honor my mother by becoming a part of Team AllEars and the effort to raise money for breast cancer. I wanted to share the next Disney experience with my Mom. You see mother has never seen me run and it is her hope (and mine) that she will be well enough to join me for marathon weekend to witness it for the first time. We want to put this cancer beast behind us and celebrate…celebrate that Mother is cancer free, celebrate the end of the horrible treatments and most importantly, celebrate our love and the admiration this daughter has for her beautiful mother.