The year 2013 was when my dad was diagnosed with COPD. My mom contacted me to let me know what was going on. At that point I did not know what the disease was or never heard of it. I began doing research and getting as much information as I could. Later in the year I began to want to do more to honor my dad and the millions of people affected by the disease worldwide. I ran a marathon to raise awareness for COPD and once I finished I told myself I would never run another one because it hurt so bad.
2014 I decided to begin running once again and continued to spread awareness of what COPD really is. I ran two marathons during 2014. 2015 I created a goal of completing a marathon in each of the 50 states. 2015 I ran 25 races and completed 13 marathons in 18 days and had the chance to speak to thousands of people. The purpose was to get them checked by their Dr. before the disease progressed much further. As of July 2018 I have under five races to finish to complete my goal of a marathon in all 50 states.
May 31, 2019 I will begin my journey of running from California to Washington DC to continue meeting as many people as I can to make people more aware and show them that COPD is not just letters but a disease that there is no cure for!!