In July of 2008, I received a phone call that would prove to be the catalyst in changing my life. My very good friend was thinking of raising money for Chances for Children and running the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon. She wanted someone to train with her and had thought of me. Now, why in the world she would ask her 245 pound very obese friend, I don't know!

We started with walking a 2 mile loop, gradually adding in some running here and there, and we were on our way. By the time Team Chances started their 20 week training program, I was able to run 2 miles at a time. I was really nervous meeting the team the first time. Here I was a plus sized woman attempting to run 13.1 miles. What would they think? Would they laugh at me? Everyone was highly supportive, and soon started to make comments about how inspirational I was to them. Of course, they said this as they flew past me while running! As the weeks and months passed, I weighed less and less and was able to run more and more.

I do not feel like I have accomplished a huge feat as I did not do it all at once. I took each day as it came, each workout as it came and it never overwhelmed me. It helped that I have some good friends to run and train with. Running with friends makes it easier to get up at 4am to get out the door run and make it back home in time to get the kids ready for school.

I would love to encourage other plus sized people to attempt new things, even running a 1/2 marathon. I was afraid people would laugh, afraid my joints would not hold up under the pressure of my weight while running, afraid I would not be able to meet my goals. But, I worked through those fears, and now I am ready to run the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon! I have lost 65 pounds, experienced pure joy when I was able to say I am only overweight, no longer obese, and am happy to say that my running journey has just begun.

Running a marathon wasn't new to me when I heard about Chances for Children - Arizona. I had previously completed four marathons and a few half marathons. Even so, I only did it for me and the personal benefits it provided. Running was life-changing for me. Running gave me strength, confidence and happiness. But last year, my reasons for running changed.

Finding Team Chances

The running community is small and one day on a morning run I heard Susan Loken's story. I was completely inspired. I had to meet Susan! Shortly after, a gal walked into the AP office at my work and noticed my shirt, which proudly displayed the words, "I Love to Run." She asked me about it, and then spent the next fifteen minutes telling me about Team Chances and all the wonderful things they did. She also mentioned Susan's name. I was HOOKED! Chances for Children combined my two passions in life - running, and helping children. I have always known what running can do in a person's life, and now I wanted to spread the word.

Bringing My Community Together

I knew I had to create a team and raise funds for Chances. I challenged myself to recruit folks at Adolfson & Peterson to both run and raise funds. I even got to meet Susan! She was inspiring, and lighted an even bigger fire in me. I was on a mission. With help and a lot of perserverence, Team AP and I recruited 26 members - both employees and non-employees!

Not only did we have a great team, we had the support of an amazing company, Adolfson & Peterson Construction. They sponsored our registration fee and matched 8 percent of our total fundraising goal. They also provided for us a "hub" where we met, discussed ideas and held events.

On Fridays, members of Team AP ran with the kids at Aguilar Elementary and Evans Elementary. These kids held us accountable because if we were not there, no one was. Running with the children was extremely rewarding - it's difficult to explain with words. Seeing their faces, their smiles and their excitement kept our team going!

I Was Changed

Running with Team Chances was very challenging, yet very rewarding. I got to see how running can change a person's life, just how it had changed mine. When I saw that and I saw how happy the children were when our team showed up, it just made me want to do more. It made all of us want to do more. After 20 weeks of training, many injuries, lots of hard work, Team AP raised $36,000 and almost every member of our team completed either the half or full marathon.

Personally, Chances for Children - Arizona changed the way I run. I do it with purpose. Now, I run for myself and for others. I encourage all those around me to give it a shot and to have an open mind. Go team!

My story starts in early 2008, when I turned 49. Realizing that 50 was coming the following year, I began to formulate a lot of anxiety over the idea of how old I had become. I continued to fret over this for nearly 6 months. I was severely overweight and that just added to the anxiety.

One day at my church, the pastor informed us on a way that we could help the children of Maricopa and the food bank. By running either the half marathon or the full marathon, we could raise money and part of the money would be donated to causes in Maricopa. Well, I'm on the board for the food bank, so that appealed to me. I also began to realize that I could as well, make this a personal goal to help me get to 50 with less anxiety.

My goal was to raise the money for fundraising, exercise with the team, lose 50 pounds for 50 years of life, and then run the half marathon.

Now, 6 months later, I am prepared to run the half marathon. I am 42 pounds lighter! And my attitude is now, "What's so bad about turning 50?" I feel like I've given myself the best gift I could have ever received and raise a little money for some good causes!