A MESSAGE FROM Sarah Abell #runningforpops to #endalz with Team ADDF
In 2017, I lucked into a last-minute opportunity to run the NYC Marathon as part of Team Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). With less than 60 days to train, I hustled, hydrated + hobbled my way to the finish line. And thanks to an incredible network of family, friends & even some strangers, I obliterated my initial $3,000 goal and raised $12,680 for science and research.
I ran with a smile plastered across my face in honor of my pops through NYC’s five boroughs to raise awareness about and money for Dementia and Alzheimer’s research. I am eternally grateful that my pops was able to hear my training stories that summer and fall, wear my medal and share a 4pm beer with me in celebration of finishing the race before he lost his long + brave battle against behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).
In the years since, I’ve proudly laced up my sneakers again, again + again to run in memory of pops. I’ve been lucky enough to run alongside 50,000 others through the streets of New York – and I even ran it solo + virtually alongside a beloved squad of supporters in Colorado during the 2020 pandemic – to raise money to fund the fight against these horribly cruel diseases that robbed me of my pops and so many friends of their own mothers, fathers, grandparents and spouses.
The stats are hideous. Currently, more than 50 million people live with Dementia & Alzheimer’s around the world, and every 66 seconds, someone develops a form of these diseases. By 2030, it is estimated that more than 82 million people around the world will be trapped in the hell of these horrible diseases. There are no survivors. That’s why this fall, I will once again lace up to run my fifth NYC Marathon on Team ADDF. I’ll run in memory of my pops, in honor of my family and on behalf of far too many friends who are dealing with this in their own families.
But I cannot do this alone and I need your help.
My goal is to raise $28,014, which would bring my fundraising total to $100,000 in five years – with every single cent going to research.
Over the course of 18 weeks, I’ll run approximately 700 miles – through early-morning sunrises, smashed in between conference calls, spending hours pounding the pavement on weekends, during freak weather storms & more – so I can safely run 26.2 miles with Team ADDF this fall. And with every mile logged as #irunwithADDF, my hope is that we’ll be one step closer to finding a cure.
My NYC Marathon journey has been challenging and painful, but overall, rewarding as hell. And it's changed my life for the better. Throughout the thousands of miles over the last four years, I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of friends, family, pups and complete strangers. I am beyond grateful for the support and opportunity to once again run on Team ADDF and humbly ask for your help in donating whatever you can to help fight the fund for a cure.
Thank you from the bottom of my soles for being part of this adventure.
With love, patience, more love, I am #runningforpops to help #endalz,
sarah xo
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