Climb Kilimanjaro For OIF |
Ashley Curry 8/26/09
Well here we are one month away from our departure! I think I speak for Anna as well when I say that we are ready to actually start climbing instead of just talking about climbing. By the way, we have completed hikes up to 10 miles and climbed hundreds of stadium steps. In fact, I will be climbing steps tonight. (If you haven’t been to the Vestavia Hills High School stadium I can tell you that it has 76 steps from the first row to the top of the stadium and 37 rows of bleacher seats. I think I could climb them blind-folded). We have agreed that we will stop our training regimen on September 15th. If we are not ready by then, so be it.
This would be a good time to acknowledge some people that have been very supportive and who have been instrumental in our preparations. My wife, Marga, has supported this venture from the outset, has trained (walked stadiums and the track) with us, and has even brought dinner for some of the late evening training sessions. She will be our support from “base camp” in Birmingham and will coordinate the daily updates to our website while we are on the mountain. Anna’s boyfriend, Mark Gualano, has also hiked many miles with us, climbed stadium steps with us, and offered encouragement throughout the process. His expertise from having hiked the entire Appalachian Trail has been invaluable.
The support and encouragement from so many of you has been overwhelming and we are truly thankful for your support of our venture and our efforts to raise awareness about OI.
I will close this blog entry with another quote about mountain climbing.
“It’s a round trip. Getting to the Summit is optional, getting down is mandatory”
We intend to make the entire round trip!
| 1. | Anonymous | Wed Aug 26, 2009 @ 11:37AM |
We learned today that we have raised over $19,000 for the OI Foundation! We will certainly meet our fundraising goal of $19,400. I sincerely thank all of you who have made donations to the OI Foundation in our honor. The OIF is an invaluable resource for individuals with OI, and I am proud to raise money on its behalf.
I'm truly humbled and grateful to see that we will reach our fundraising goal. Now all that's left for us to do is hike!
| 3. | Mark Gualano | Wed Aug 26, 2009 @ 12:08PM |
I am excited for you guys! All of your efforts in fundraising have paid off, and all of your efforts in training will be rewarded with a photo of the two of you at the top of the mountain! It's been fun experiencing this with you along the way- the real excitement starts in one month!
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