San Diego Rock'N'Roll Marathon

Yesterday, June 6th, a friend of mine ran the San Diego Marathon in honor of my brother Cody. Erin was planning on running the marathon anyway but when my brother was in the Oakland Children's hospital being tested and diagnosed she had asked if it would be okay with the family if she ran the marathon in honor of Cody. Of course we were all amazed that she would do that for someone she had never met before. Erin set up a pledge site to raise money to help with the family's travel and medical expenses for Cody's cancer treatments. Erin did make a trip to the hospital to meet my parents and brother while they were staying in Oakland so they were all able to meet her and thank her in person for what she was about to do for Cody.

This was Erin's first marathon. The marathon was 26.2 miles and she ran it in 4:47:29. We got to the finish line just before they announced Erin's name as she crossed the finish line. It was so nice to be able to hear that. They weren't announcing every name so the fact that they announced her as she crossed was pretty special to us! We were able to meet up with Erin and give her a few big hugs , some high 5's and thank her for what she had just done for Cody.

Erin said it was pretty tough but she held in there and was feeling pretty good until the end. She got to about the 26 mile mark and said she didn't know if she had enough to get through the last little bit of the race, but she thought of Cody and the battle he is now fighting and that was enough to push her on and help her finish up the race and cross that finish line.

Words can not express the gratitude my family feels for what Erin did. Thank you is not nearly enough. She ran 26.2 miles to help raise quite a bit of money for Cody. What an amazing woman!! And what a great accomplishment. Thank you Erin Smedley!!