So, as my main page now shows, I made it 60 miles in my pursuit of 100. 
The support from everyone, including you, has been just gigantic, and I believe aids Rory in her healing.

Of course, I am disappointed that I did not go further, that my strategy was incorrect - yet I am also
inspired by other runners, Rory, and what I have learned to do better next time.  This entire experience this year has been so colorful and meaningful and joyful for Rory's part in it - and experience that i will never forget.

Rory is walking,  holding her parents hands.  She went to the town fair with her folks on the day I was running, and I much enjoyed picturing her there.  She continues PT and working hard to get stronger. What a trooper! 

I will do the same, working hard to become stronger to keep up with this little and mighty inspiration of a
girl! 

Thank You All for your support, thoughts, prayers, and pledges.
I love you Rory! 

~Spirit

From Leadville,Co. here i am to acclimate for the week into the race on saturday and sunday. i can hardly believe its almost here! As of now, i have $47.80 per mile in pledges!! Who wants to make it 50? Rory is still working hard to heal and walk again, and her parents are busy changing dressings and diapers all day every day. I painted my toenails Royal blue, Rory' s favorite color...it is now RoryBlue, thankyouverymuch. My run today was glorious, birdscalling, sun-dappled path, black sqirrels, chipmunks, beautiful little snake that reminds me if Rory's friend Eel. I am eager and ready to do this Run for Rory. I am so proud to be her Auntie. Would you like me to fly a ribbon for a loved one? I will write their name on a gold ribbon and fly it with Rory' s and others, probably on my hat! Ok, gotta run, 'scusin thepun. :)

Step by step...

Well, last I heard, Rory walked across the room, unsupported by people and with her brace on!  This, after not having walked since February.  I cried.  Did you?  I mean, come on!  She's AMAZING!!!

I have to quote what she said:  "This is hard work!"  You got it Rory, and you are doing it anyway!
-segway to my steppin up...

I am ready to run this 100 miles, more ready than I have ever been to to tackle a goal in my life.
I am trained, motivated, and have a strong mental attitude.  I have the best inspiration in the world in this little girl goddess.  The team of folks here to support me is remarkable - they choose to drive way out to the top of the world and stay up through the night, they give me food & drink, salt &electrolytes,  clothes & shoes, and headlamp and band-aids and tough love oh my!  So i have a taste of perhaps what Rory has experienced in the difference that it makes to have such a gift to endure through a challenge - to prevail and conquer, to go from surviving to thriving.
 I am going to follow Rory's example and take another step and another until i finish.  I may say, "this is hard work!" and then i will keep going toward food and the award ceremony and recovery. 
I am looking forward to when I can take a walk with Rory, as I have never done that before.  She and I can celebrate a first together.
 The support and prayers from all of you, family, friends, folks we don't know has been beyond moving, it's powerful and obviously lends to her healing.  I thank you.

Well!  3 weeks from now, i will be crossing the finish line in Leadville - but Guess What!?

RORY BEAT ME TO IT!  5 months ago she was diagnosed with this rare, late stage cancer - a genetic fluke affecting less the a million people- the odds being "dire" to 30% to 60% to 80% from the best sources. This changed Rory's and her family's life entirely to evolve around her care: 68 chemo treatments, 1 major spinal surgery, 1 tumor resection surgery, PT 3 times a week to help her walk, countless shots and medication for and causing side effects, 47 days in the hospital, dozens of clinic visits and appointments including 2nd and 3rd opinions in NY and Boston, being isolated from other kids, and the list goes on.
Her parents both describe Rory as having handled this all with grace, understanding, cooperation, resilience, and strength of spirit.
On Tuesday she had surgery to remove the initial tumor,they also removed her tailbone and some of her sacrum.  She sprang back, playing and chatting and standing on her own.
Friday night they got the news that the tumor was completely dead tissue.

Rory is in Remission!  RORY IS CANCER-FREE!
- please do a little happy dance with me here.

So! Treatment doesn't end here, they will be having scans, seeing doctors and she has PT 5 days a week to help her walk again. She may need another surgery for that. The chemo she underwent makes her more prone to other types of cancers and hearing loss (likely) down the road.  As her Daddy says, "Those are struggles will face together if the time comes, and Bridget and I will make every effort to give her the best chance at a very healthy future."

Thank You all for your donations - they have helped enormously all along the way. 
Thank you for pledging per mile, as the costs still come in and there's still along road ahead.
Alex and Bridget asked that I extend to you and everyone their heartfelt (and they say belated) thanks.

Me, i went for a run and my blisters peeled another layer and i lost a toenail, but hey!  They'll grow back before Leadville and meanwhile I am doing knee maintenance and excercise.  I am ready for this thing!!!
I am antsy to run and run.  This is the part they call "tapering" before the race, gets the body rested, rebuilt, and ready, and makes my eager to go!

What better inspiration than this amazing little girl who says, "I can give you comfort" when adults around her cry that her bump is gone.  I love you, Rory!

I have to post!  Rory stood up by herself for 15 minutes today in the playroom at the hospital!  This, after not being able to do so since she was diagnosed and had her first surgery!  The new pics are in the slideshow!
This is huge!!! I am so inspired by this giant being in this tiny body!  You are amazing, Rory!
We are going to finish this, and keep on going!

Rory had surgery today that removed the large evil tumor that started all of this. It went well, and Rory is doing great - she's awake and  From her Daddy Alex: "for now my little girl is out, talking up a storm, and watching movies (well, movie...actually just all of the Maleficent parts of Sleeping Beauty over and over--did you know, she's really a nice person, just needed a friend like Rory and now she's not mean anymore)." -- love it!  Talk about turning an evil entity around and making it good with her goodness!  First a tumor, now Maleficent - Watch Out, World!    Needless to say, i was quite emotional over it all.
I am nervous and ready for this event -My dear friend (Ironman,  Fiddler Extraordinaire and PT Doctor) Ellora is here from out of town, helping with the race prep - she will keep me company in the wee hours of the race, making sure i eat and stay awake, reminding me all the time of all the wonderful pledges and support, and how far ahead of me Rory is! Imagine us giggling down the trail with our headlamps- taking on bears and mountain lions and illusions of long-gone miners and burros!   My feet are healing from the blisters of my 50, and i am excited about my new blister-prevention strategy- surprise! keep my feet dry and powder and tape and toe socks, oh, yeah!
Photos will be posted for your entertainment, of course.
So Rory recovers from surgery and i recover from blisters - G, i think i got the easy road.  We wait to hear results of biopsy of the tumor and her plans leading forward.  She and I are in relentless forward motion.
I love this little girl with all my heart.  Thank you all again, for your tremendous support

Well, i finished 50 miles yesterday, having run the last half of the course.  I learned that patience and steady as she goes is the name of the game as i flew over Hope Pass to start and may have stressed my knee a bit. It was a glorious morning, a young deer bounded across my path, and various birds encouraged me along my way, flitting from trees and fence posts down the path as if saying, "come one, come on..."  I learned about my strategy going forward, to just take each section one at a time without trying to be superfast, that i can push through knee pain and blisters and keep going all the way in to the finish on time -just to keep going and not give up.  My dear friend was there for me every 10 miles to be my aide stations, pouring me gatorade and coffee and changing wet shoes - and mostly being there and cheering me on. Running (uphill, thanks) into Leadville was psychologically boosting, and i imagined how it will feel to come in to the finish line at the actual event.
So, of course i look to the similarities to this and Rory's road.  It is taking gigantic patience for her parents to wait for surgery and be weighing vastly differing medical opinions on how to move forward, some scarier than others.  This week, Rory sees a naturopath to detox her little body of some chemo on Monday, parents consult for another opinion on her surgical and treatment plan on Wednesday, and endures a full day of presurgery scans on Friday.  She has been asking to try to walk with her foot brace on, taking a few assisted steps and expressing that she's "a little proud of herself".  Way to Go, Rory!!!  Only two, and she is keeping on- through the frustration, pain and trauma and unknowns to be all that she can be.  She, too, can look to all the folks that are there to aide her every step of the way, cheering her on.  That support is invaluable and makes everything else do-able. 
Thank you all for your involvement on all levels, every little bit is unfathomably huge in the pool of support that she needs.