I'm not sure many more half-marathons are in my future. It was a good time and pretty exciting but I did get a bum right knee at about mile 7 and it oddly hurt worse and nearly froze if I tried to walk on it or stop..which meant I just had to keep running. We had about 10 runners on our team and they all did an amazing job and it was so sweet of them to sacrifice so much of themselves for this cause. We did a horrible job taking pics because people just roll in at such different times that it was impossible to get us all together, but I am hoping at some point to piecemeal the pics we do have together to share.
There were a couple of moving moments I experienced during the race . One was when I got to the top of the hill at about mile 9 (on McDowell road in the midst of the Papago Mountains). The view of the city from the top that morning was beautiful. I actually stopped and took a couple of pics. At that point on my ipod was a song that contained the following lyrics, "Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city! Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city!" I listened to it at least a couple of times for inspiration, but perhaps not-so coincidentally I couldn't help but keep thinking about my hope, my dream for premier medical care in Phoenix.
I know I'm going to pour out the cheese on this next paragraph, but it is honestly how strongly I feel about this. I'm a fourth generation Arizonan and there are so few of us that I can't help but be filled with pride when I think about my family making its way to this state before it was even a state (and long before AC). I even had a great-grandmother that had to swim across the Rio Grande in order to get in because Ellis Island was full, and then as a young teenage girl make her way to Arizona. I know how desolate that trek is with I-10 in existence, can't imagine what that was like before. I can't help but think about those people that built the CAP (the Central Arizona Project) long before we were one of the fastest growing cities in the country. This has inevitably made us the "water-envy" of the west (granted not exactly the water-envy of the world, but it's good for the west!) and where would we be without it?? I have definitely drank the ASU President Michael Crow kool-aid and believe that we Phoenicians can take over the world!
Perhaps "the world" is a bit of an extreme, but can Phoenix be a premier center for 21st century medical care, now that would be my dream! I was on the Board of Regents some 13ish years ago, and let me tell you that if someone had told me then that the UA would have a medical school in downtown Phoenix, I might have thought he/she moderately insane, and look at it now. It resides in the old Phoenix Union buildings that my grandfather actually built...how cool is that! And that ASU would take over downtown! Even more surprising, it has essentially been that many years that we have been sequencing any person's genes, let alone thousands in any given year. And that it would be offered for free to families desperately in search of a diagnoses for their sick child! Who would have thought! I continue to be impressed by every article I read coming out about Barrows, about TGen...and throwing out that buzz word of all buzz words, I tell you Phoenix is creating some amazing synergies around our health!
So what are we going to do about it? Some of you may gawk at my commentary and say we need an ivy league school in our backyard to make this real, or perhaps an endless supply of government money. But in this day and age, all I have to say is that all you really need are the right people. I already wrote about how surprised I was at the facilities in both NY and at the National Institute of Health...it really opened my eyes to how if we put the focus on the right people then facilities may not quite mirror the Taj Mahal, but we will have premier care. There is a lot of talk in the media about access to health care, and don't get me wrong access is important, but it's only been 3 short years since we realized that access can only get you so far. When we REALLY needed medical care like we never had before, it wasn't about access, it was about finding the RIGHT, premier doctor to help us..and we went through a lot of ones that couldn't help us to get there. It doesn't have to be this way. We can build up organizations that truly strive for personalized, research-based care....greater things are yet to come!!
Our hope is obviously to continue to support efforts in gene therapy because at this point this is our best hope. We hope that you will help us make that investment in Phoenix and anywhere there is promising research going on. I don't know if this means at some point we will set up a separate foundation, or perhaps directly support causes that already benefit the many worthy non-profits that already exist. We are still brainstorming the best approach. I do know that we turned down numerous donors that came forward the last month that are insisting on us setting up an organization...only time (and some serious research) will tell. In the mean time, we are happy to keep you updated on Emilia's progress every now and again and we are soooo thankful for your interest in her endeavors. Your thoughts and prayers have been so comforting over the last few years. Thanks for reading/running with us these last 6 months!! - Love, Mary
Soo glad to hear about the race and this new race you are embarking on, however God wants to design it. Meanwhile, I am continuing to pray and can't wait to hear more about this journey and your sweet Emilia and family. :) And, I love that song, too!! ~ Amy :)
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