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Duo to run across South Dakota
By Journal staff
RAPID CITY - "Chemo is Harder."
That's the motto of two motivated friends who
are champions in the fight against cancer.
South Dakota Army National Guard members Brendan Murphy, Rapid City,
and his friend Noland Taylor, Great Falls, Mont., will be running
429 miles across the state of South Dakota in 14 days next year in
an effort to bring awareness and to help others who are affected by
cancer.
"The idea is to create awareness at a grass-roots level,"
said Murphy on the purpose of the Chemo is Harder Cancer Research
Run. "There are some tremendously brave men and women fighting
this battle and they shouldn't have to do it alone."
Both Murphy and Taylor are well aware of the sacrifice made by
family and friends in this fight; Murphy recently lost his father to
the disease and his mother is a cancer survivor. Taylor's father was
diagnosed with cancer last year, which led to surgery, radiation and
chemotherapy.
"Many of us have no idea of just how difficult it really
is," said Murphy.
Taylor, who is a recreation coordinator for the Black Hills
Children's Home, and Murphy hope to raise money and awareness in the
name of cancer research by promoting a positive outlook on life
through running and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Murphy, who is an operations officer with the 82nd Civil Support
Team in Rapid City, said the two expect to begin their journey on
April 26, 2008, at Capitol, Mont., and finish on May 12 at Big
Stone, Minn. They hope to average 31 miles a day during their run
across the state.
The two friends plan on being completely self-supported during the
run by pushing all their supplies and equipment in two three-wheeled
strollers. The gear is expected to be between 40-60 pounds and
includes clothing, shelter, cooking equipment, food, water, first
aid kits and communication devices.
They said no matter how difficult the journey may be, "Chemo is
still harder."
The two have teamed with the American Cancer Society and said that
all money raised during their campaign will go directly towards
cancer research efforts.
Murphy said for those interested in finding out more about the Chemo
Is Harder Cancer Research Run and how it started, see the planned
route, or how to make a financial contribution, they can go to the
Web site at www.chemoisharder.com.
By Journal staff (OK to reprint by author)
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/08/05/news/local/doc46b69e2f62f1f501244681.txt
Tuesday, June 5th, 2007
While it seems like the sports news is dominated by so many
negatives as of late, it is refreshing to come across a couple of
guys who are trying to do something positive through their chosen
sport, running.
On Sunday, June 1, Journal sports writer Padraic Duffy wrote
about Nolan Taylor, who was taking part in the 2007 Deadwood
Mickelson Trail Marathon. It was the T-shirt Taylor wore as he
crossed the finish line — a T-shirt with CHEMO
IS HARDER in block lettering — that caught Duffy’s
attention and became a natural for a storyline on marathon day.
Nearly all of us know someone whose life was taken or altered
drastically by cancer, or dealt with it one-on-one. For many of us
at the Journal, that person is Peggy Sagen, who died in
August of 2006 after fighting ovarian cancer for three years.
Nolan and Brendan Murphy, the guys behind the Chemo
Is Harder cause, have both watched their parents deal with cancer.
Nolan’s dad has tonsil cancer, and Brendan’s mom is an ovarian
cancer survivor while his dad lost his battle with melanoma in
2003.
So take the time to visit the Chemo
Is Harder Web site and support Nolan Taylor and Brendan Murphy
during their Chemo Is Harder Cancer Research Run scheduled for May
of 2008.
– Jeff Easton (OK to reprint by author)
http://rapidcityjournal.com/blogs/sports/?cat=23
2007 Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon: Runner races for a cause
By Padraic Duffy, Journal staff
DEADWOOD --Nolan Taylor knows finishing a
half-marathon is tough, but he also knows there are trials that are
much harder. He watched his dad fight cancer.
Taylor, a former seven-time NAIA All-American at Minot State,
finished second in the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail half-marathon on
Sunday, but where he finishes a race is a lot less important to him
than his main objective --raising awareness and money for cancer
research.
Part of that awareness comes simply from his shirt, which reads
"Chemo is harder"in bold, block lettering.
The genesis of the shirt came on June 23, 2006, when Taylor’s
father, Robert, was diagnosed with tonsil cancer. Taylor has worn
the shirt in every race he’s run since then with the goal of
simply connecting with others and raising awareness of cancer
at events such as the Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon.
"The thing about cancer is that it doesn’t matter what
your economic background is, it doesn’t matter what race you are,
everybody knows someone, has a relative or a friend or someone, that
has been affected by cancer,"Taylor, who grew up in Great
Falls, Mont., said. "I just want to be able to help in any way
I can."
And while that started with the shirts, it has extended to a
vision for a 429-mile run across South Dakota, with money raised
going to the American Cancer Society.
Taylor and another Rapid City runner, Brendan Murphy, met and
decided to do something. Murphy’s mother, Theresa, is an ovarian
cancer survivor and his father, Tom, passed away in February of 2003
after battling melanoma.
Murphy and Taylor plan on making their 429-mile journey --the
Chemo is Harder Cancer Research Run --from Capital, Mont., to Big
Stone, Minn., in just 14 days. The duo plans to make an entirely
self-sufficient run. They will each have a three-wheeled
high-performance stroller filled with 40 to 60 pounds of gear. There
will be no support vehicles of any kind making the trip with them.
"Watching dad go through this, it doesn’t really matter
how much family and love and support you have around you, you’re
going through that alone,"Taylor said of the intense radiation
and chemotherapy treatments. "I wanted something that would
kind of reflect that. It’s just going to be me, my stroller and
the open road. I’m committed, every time I leave a town in the
morning I’m going to make it to the next town that day."
Taylor and Murphy will have their "easiest"days on Day
2 and Day 4, when they plan to run 24 miles, the fewest they will
have to go in one day. Their longest day will be Day 8, when
they’ll tackle the 43 miles from Mobridge to Bowdle.
"It will still prove to me again that chemo is
harder,"Taylor said. "This is self-inflicted and I do it
for fun, really. It will always be easier than what my dad and
millions of other people go through. That’s really why this all
started; it’s kind of become my motto, no matter how bad my day
might be going or whatever, there’s always reason to be
thankful."
One of those reasons is that Robert Taylor is still fighting, and
getting stronger every day. His treatments and surgery have helped,
and the visits to the doctor have brought less fear and more comfort
to his family.
"He’s doing a lot better,"Taylor said of his dad.
"He’s getting to the point where every time he goes to the
doctor, it’s not bad news anymore. There was a point there for
about eight months that it seemed like every time you’d go, it was
like, ‘Man, what are they going to tell me now? Now what’s going
to be wrong? Now what do we have to look forward to?’ Now he’s
kind of through with that part.”
But Taylor knows there are plenty of other people out there
dealing with the same fear and pain that his family knows. And
that’s why he’s going to keep running.
To donate to the Chemo is Harder Cancer Research Run or to find
out more information about it, go to www.chemoisharder.com.
Contact Duffy at 394-8429 or at padraic.duffy@rapidcityjournal.com
OK to reprint by author
Article 06/04/2007/sports/local
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/06/04/sports/local/doc4663a886a0c10612756956.txt
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