My dad was the best runner I knew. He ran several marathons and dedicated a large portion of his life to being the best runner he could be. Unfortunately, 10 years ago, on December 10, 2015, I lost my father to esophageal cancer. He spent around 6 months at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, but the lack of research surrounding his cancer prevented him from beating it. A little over 2 years later, I chose to run the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in honor of him, raising money for M.D Anderson. I set an initial goal of $200, and ended up surpassing it by over 80 fold, raising nearly $17,000. I was 10 years old at the time, and I wanted to run my first marathon at 13 (the minimum age to run the Houston full). However, my mom told me, “Benjy, you’ve got to be at least 18 before you run your first full to let your bones grow.” Here I am, 8 years later, ready to run the Chevron Houston Marathon this upcoming January. All I want is to make my younger self proud and try and make a difference so that less stories can end in grief such as my father’s. Any support you can provide will make more of an impact than you realize and I would greatly appreciate it. God bless you all.