2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation & Pinhoti 100
Donation protected
Welcome to the fundraising site for the 2013
iTRi4Sue Foundation and Pinhoti 100 Mile! This year, I have decided to ring
in my 28th birthday by running 100 miles on Talladega National
Forest trails in order to raise money for the 2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation. The
fundraiser will end on Sunday, November 10 (one week after the 100 mile race) and
the donation will be gifted to the 2013 Recipient on Thanksgiving Day. For
more detailed information about the 2013 Recipient, the Pinhoti 100, and the iTRi4Sue
Foundation background story, please feel free to check out the information below!
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ABOUT THE RACE
When: November 2, 2013 (my 28th birthday!) "“ November 3, 2013
What: Running/Racing 100 MILES! The race will start at 6:00am (Saturday, November 2) and we will run through the day and night before finishing sometime during the morning of Sunday, November 3 (30-hour cutoff is Noon on Sunday).
The Course: The Pinhoti 100 is a point-to-point trail race starting in Heflin, Alabama on the unmolested Pinhoti single-track trail. Runners will make their way over the highest point in Alabama while navigating over rocks, through creeks and across beautiful ridge lines of the Talladega National Forest. The course will consist of 80.62 miles of single-track trail, 16.98 miles of jeep road and 4.52 miles of pavement and will finish on the rubberized track in the Sylacauga High School Football Stadium.
* Total Distance: 100.59 Miles
* Total Elevation Gain: 16,180 Feet
Pinhoti 100 Website: http://www.pinhoti100.com/index.html
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The 2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation Recipient
This year's iTRi4Sue Foundation donation will go to the three Shanklin sisters, Cathy Shanklin Kunst, Judy Driebel, and Terri Shanklin Ostricki, who were all diagnosed with cancer within 6 months of one another this past year. The Shanklins graduated from Amherst High School (WI) and all currently live around the area. Cathy (48) has a 9 year old son, Terri (53) has two grown boys, and Judy (59) has three grown girls.
Last December, Judy was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), the most common form of breast cancer. She had surgery in January and has triple-negative breast cancer that seems to have been caught early with no nodes affected. Five months later, Cathy went in for her routine yearly mammogram and wasn't expecting anything abnormal as she is 11 years younger than Judy and had all normal mammograms previously. This May, however, her mammogram came back abnormal and she had to go through further testing and a biopsy. At the end of May, she was also diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Cathy also has no node involvement, but she did test positive for HER2 and estrogen. The middle sister, Terri, wasn't due for her mammogram until November, but moved up her appointment to June after hearing about Cathy's diagnosis. Although everyone thought that Terri would be fine (by the sheer odds of all three sisters being diagnosed at nearly the same time), Terri was diagnosed with Invasive Lobular Cancer, with one node affected. She is also estrogen positive at a higher level than Cathy, and will be on a drug for that for the next five years.
All three have had partial mastectomy/lumpectomy of the right breasts. Additionally, they are currently undergoing chemotherapy, and Cathy will most likely need one drug through an IV weekly for a year, following chemo. As of late, Cathy, Terri, and Judy are all bald in different phases of treatment.
Judy's oldest grandchild is getting married in October, and to quote Cathy, "It is weird to think we will all be there sporting wigs! But we are just happy for each day and hope and pray that we were all caught early and have many years left."
**********************************************************
iTRi4Sue Foundation Background Story
On April 29, 2010, my wildly active, healthy, lively mom, Sue Erickson (aka. "Mama Sue"), was diagnosed with advanced (stage 4), non-operable, non-treatable liver and pancreatic cancer. My brother, sister, and I were stunned when we were told of her diagnosis; she didn't look sick, sound sick, or act sick. It couldn't be true. Setting doubts and disbelief aside, the three of us immediately moved back home to share together what would become the last few months of her magnificent and beautiful life.
After my Mama Sue bravely and gracefully passed away on October 27, 2010, I spent a few months at home trying to decide where to go next. In June of 2011, I decided to move to Boulder, Colorado to pursue Triathlon at an elite level. Additionally, I knew I wanted to incorporate my mom and her positive influence in some way. After many discussions with other individuals attempting to use competitive sports as a platform for doing "good things" for others, I came to the conclusion to begin a foundation in Mama Sue's honor. Aside from including her name, the foundation also relates on a personal level by donating the funds raised through my biggest race each year to a family currently affected by cancer. Last year I was fortunate enough to qualify for the Xterra (off-road) Triathlon World Championships held in Hawaii, and was even more fortunate to raise nearly $2,000 through the effort from countless incredible supporters (many of you!!).
Footage from last year's Xterra World Championships (I'm in there somewhere!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlIP2PgTkHE
This year:
After the 2012 World Championships, I decided to move farther up the mountain to the tiny town of Nederland, situated at 8,300 feet (3,000 feet higher than Boulder). As Spring arrived, I moved even higher up the mountain into a remote one-room cabin situated at 9,200 feet. The higher I moved, the more I seemed to fall in love with the endless numbers of secluded mountain trails surrounding me. When it was time to start gearing up for the 2013 Triathlon season, I realized that I was completely enamored with exploring the mountain trails by foot, oftentimes for hours and hours at a time. Following my heart, my gut, my whatever-you-want-to-call-it, I made the decision to apply myself to the sport of Ultra-Running for the 2013 season. Because the much lesser-known and humble sport of Ultra-Running solely involves running/racing on incredible singletrack trails through nature for distances of 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 kilometers, 100 miles, and more, I felt this sport to be a very easy transition well-suited to my everyday high-altitude lifestyle.
I competed in my first Ultramarathon in early June -- a 50k in Golden Gate Canyon -- and finished in the top-10. In July, I traveled to my home state of Wisconsin for my second 50k and ended up finishing in 2nd place (3 minutes behind the winner), while breaking the course record. Just two weeks ago (September 14), I raced my first 50-miler in Steamboat up to Rabbit Ears Pass at 10,000+ feet; I finished in 7th-place amongst a very experienced and deep field in just over 10 hours, only 8 minutes behind 4th place. Additionally, I won my age group (20-29) and broke the age record (27) by an hour. And now to end my rookie season, I will put my body and mind to the ultimate test of endurance when I make the leap to the 100 mile race on my 28th birthday, November 2. Although I am new to the sport, I am confident in my ability to finish as long as I continue to train smart, stay healthy and injury-free, and keep in mind that the race is as much a test of mental toughness as it is physical.
And, even though I won't actually be "TRI"-ing this year, I WILL most certainly be "TRY"-ing!!
**For more information about Mama Sue's personal journey, please visit the CaringBrige website below to read her story (written by mom under the "My Story" tab), and daily accounts of her final months, weeks, and days (documented by me in green/blue text, and by mama in black text, under the "Journal" tab).
Link:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sueerickson1
***************************************************************
2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation Proceeds
I am happy to announce that half of this year's proceeds will go to the 2013 Recipient (up from 25% in the Foundation's inaugural year of 2012), while the other half will go toward the Pinhoti 100 Mile race entry fee, plane ticket, race nutrition, and crew costs. Because the costs of Ultra-Running are far lesser than the costs of Triathlon, a greater portion of the money raised this year will be gifted to the recipient(s) to use in any way they see fit. Whether they use the proceeds to put toward groceries or toward a family weekend trip together, the idea behind the donation is that it will help to ease the pressure of their awfully unfortunate situation in some small way. After all, I've learned through our experience with Mama Sue that it's the small things that allow a family affected by cancer to make it through the days together, one day at a time.
**Last year, several people contacted me asking to send checks instead of paying online. If there are any interested parties, checks can be made out as follows:
To: iTRi4Sue Foundation/Brittany Dick
Subject: iT4S Donation
Address: 201 Sego Lily Way, Black Hawk, CO 80422
**************************************************************
For regular updates and photos regarding training, mountain trails, race info, etc., feel free to check out my Facebook page!
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/dickbrittany
*************************************************************
I genuinely CAN NOT thank all of you enough for your support!!! Whether you have donated $1 or $100 to the fundraiser, have pushed me through tough workouts and/or very long training runs, or have simply encouraged me through words, you are each appreciated in ways that could never be fully expressed. I couldn't do this without all of you!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
***********************************************************
ABOUT THE RACE
When: November 2, 2013 (my 28th birthday!) "“ November 3, 2013
What: Running/Racing 100 MILES! The race will start at 6:00am (Saturday, November 2) and we will run through the day and night before finishing sometime during the morning of Sunday, November 3 (30-hour cutoff is Noon on Sunday).
The Course: The Pinhoti 100 is a point-to-point trail race starting in Heflin, Alabama on the unmolested Pinhoti single-track trail. Runners will make their way over the highest point in Alabama while navigating over rocks, through creeks and across beautiful ridge lines of the Talladega National Forest. The course will consist of 80.62 miles of single-track trail, 16.98 miles of jeep road and 4.52 miles of pavement and will finish on the rubberized track in the Sylacauga High School Football Stadium.
* Total Distance: 100.59 Miles
* Total Elevation Gain: 16,180 Feet
Pinhoti 100 Website: http://www.pinhoti100.com/index.html
***************************************************************
The 2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation Recipient
This year's iTRi4Sue Foundation donation will go to the three Shanklin sisters, Cathy Shanklin Kunst, Judy Driebel, and Terri Shanklin Ostricki, who were all diagnosed with cancer within 6 months of one another this past year. The Shanklins graduated from Amherst High School (WI) and all currently live around the area. Cathy (48) has a 9 year old son, Terri (53) has two grown boys, and Judy (59) has three grown girls.
Last December, Judy was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC), the most common form of breast cancer. She had surgery in January and has triple-negative breast cancer that seems to have been caught early with no nodes affected. Five months later, Cathy went in for her routine yearly mammogram and wasn't expecting anything abnormal as she is 11 years younger than Judy and had all normal mammograms previously. This May, however, her mammogram came back abnormal and she had to go through further testing and a biopsy. At the end of May, she was also diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Cathy also has no node involvement, but she did test positive for HER2 and estrogen. The middle sister, Terri, wasn't due for her mammogram until November, but moved up her appointment to June after hearing about Cathy's diagnosis. Although everyone thought that Terri would be fine (by the sheer odds of all three sisters being diagnosed at nearly the same time), Terri was diagnosed with Invasive Lobular Cancer, with one node affected. She is also estrogen positive at a higher level than Cathy, and will be on a drug for that for the next five years.
All three have had partial mastectomy/lumpectomy of the right breasts. Additionally, they are currently undergoing chemotherapy, and Cathy will most likely need one drug through an IV weekly for a year, following chemo. As of late, Cathy, Terri, and Judy are all bald in different phases of treatment.
Judy's oldest grandchild is getting married in October, and to quote Cathy, "It is weird to think we will all be there sporting wigs! But we are just happy for each day and hope and pray that we were all caught early and have many years left."
**********************************************************
iTRi4Sue Foundation Background Story
On April 29, 2010, my wildly active, healthy, lively mom, Sue Erickson (aka. "Mama Sue"), was diagnosed with advanced (stage 4), non-operable, non-treatable liver and pancreatic cancer. My brother, sister, and I were stunned when we were told of her diagnosis; she didn't look sick, sound sick, or act sick. It couldn't be true. Setting doubts and disbelief aside, the three of us immediately moved back home to share together what would become the last few months of her magnificent and beautiful life.
After my Mama Sue bravely and gracefully passed away on October 27, 2010, I spent a few months at home trying to decide where to go next. In June of 2011, I decided to move to Boulder, Colorado to pursue Triathlon at an elite level. Additionally, I knew I wanted to incorporate my mom and her positive influence in some way. After many discussions with other individuals attempting to use competitive sports as a platform for doing "good things" for others, I came to the conclusion to begin a foundation in Mama Sue's honor. Aside from including her name, the foundation also relates on a personal level by donating the funds raised through my biggest race each year to a family currently affected by cancer. Last year I was fortunate enough to qualify for the Xterra (off-road) Triathlon World Championships held in Hawaii, and was even more fortunate to raise nearly $2,000 through the effort from countless incredible supporters (many of you!!).
Footage from last year's Xterra World Championships (I'm in there somewhere!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlIP2PgTkHE
This year:
After the 2012 World Championships, I decided to move farther up the mountain to the tiny town of Nederland, situated at 8,300 feet (3,000 feet higher than Boulder). As Spring arrived, I moved even higher up the mountain into a remote one-room cabin situated at 9,200 feet. The higher I moved, the more I seemed to fall in love with the endless numbers of secluded mountain trails surrounding me. When it was time to start gearing up for the 2013 Triathlon season, I realized that I was completely enamored with exploring the mountain trails by foot, oftentimes for hours and hours at a time. Following my heart, my gut, my whatever-you-want-to-call-it, I made the decision to apply myself to the sport of Ultra-Running for the 2013 season. Because the much lesser-known and humble sport of Ultra-Running solely involves running/racing on incredible singletrack trails through nature for distances of 50 kilometers, 50 miles, 100 kilometers, 100 miles, and more, I felt this sport to be a very easy transition well-suited to my everyday high-altitude lifestyle.
I competed in my first Ultramarathon in early June -- a 50k in Golden Gate Canyon -- and finished in the top-10. In July, I traveled to my home state of Wisconsin for my second 50k and ended up finishing in 2nd place (3 minutes behind the winner), while breaking the course record. Just two weeks ago (September 14), I raced my first 50-miler in Steamboat up to Rabbit Ears Pass at 10,000+ feet; I finished in 7th-place amongst a very experienced and deep field in just over 10 hours, only 8 minutes behind 4th place. Additionally, I won my age group (20-29) and broke the age record (27) by an hour. And now to end my rookie season, I will put my body and mind to the ultimate test of endurance when I make the leap to the 100 mile race on my 28th birthday, November 2. Although I am new to the sport, I am confident in my ability to finish as long as I continue to train smart, stay healthy and injury-free, and keep in mind that the race is as much a test of mental toughness as it is physical.
And, even though I won't actually be "TRI"-ing this year, I WILL most certainly be "TRY"-ing!!
**For more information about Mama Sue's personal journey, please visit the CaringBrige website below to read her story (written by mom under the "My Story" tab), and daily accounts of her final months, weeks, and days (documented by me in green/blue text, and by mama in black text, under the "Journal" tab).
Link:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sueerickson1
***************************************************************
2013 iTRi4Sue Foundation Proceeds
I am happy to announce that half of this year's proceeds will go to the 2013 Recipient (up from 25% in the Foundation's inaugural year of 2012), while the other half will go toward the Pinhoti 100 Mile race entry fee, plane ticket, race nutrition, and crew costs. Because the costs of Ultra-Running are far lesser than the costs of Triathlon, a greater portion of the money raised this year will be gifted to the recipient(s) to use in any way they see fit. Whether they use the proceeds to put toward groceries or toward a family weekend trip together, the idea behind the donation is that it will help to ease the pressure of their awfully unfortunate situation in some small way. After all, I've learned through our experience with Mama Sue that it's the small things that allow a family affected by cancer to make it through the days together, one day at a time.
**Last year, several people contacted me asking to send checks instead of paying online. If there are any interested parties, checks can be made out as follows:
To: iTRi4Sue Foundation/Brittany Dick
Subject: iT4S Donation
Address: 201 Sego Lily Way, Black Hawk, CO 80422
**************************************************************
For regular updates and photos regarding training, mountain trails, race info, etc., feel free to check out my Facebook page!
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/dickbrittany
*************************************************************
I genuinely CAN NOT thank all of you enough for your support!!! Whether you have donated $1 or $100 to the fundraiser, have pushed me through tough workouts and/or very long training runs, or have simply encouraged me through words, you are each appreciated in ways that could never be fully expressed. I couldn't do this without all of you!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Organizer
Britt Nic Dick
Organizer
Black Hawk, CO