Candace finished the St George Marathon AND qualifies for Boston Marathon with Karsen as her Movtivation....

I just wanted to post an update on how the marathon went today. First off, I had several of my friends tell me they would donate money to the Trust... though I can't tell how much they did donate, I hope it helped a bit.

I ran today with Karsen's photo and "Running for Karsen" on my back

and then I also had his picture on my pace band on my wrist so I would have a constant reminder of him while I was running. I was pushing myself hard during this race, and there were times my legs were shaking, times my calves were cramping up on me, and times when I honestly thought I wouldn't make

it another mile without throwing up, but during each of those really hard moments I looked down at Karsen's sweet smiling face and was reminded of his and his family's struggle and my pain decreased dramatically upon remembering that. He kept me running through the hard times and made me appreciate the good times.

I am happy to report that I finished the race in 3 hours 32 minutes and 33 seconds. Smashing my old personal record by over 17 minutes and finally reaching a goal that I've been aspiring to for years... running a fast enough race to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My heartfelt thanks goes out to this little boy and this family I've never met for giving me the extra push that I needed. I only hope that I can help them as much as they helped me.

Give Karsen a hug for me. I hope I get to meet him someday. Perhaps he'll be well enough by the Run Karsen Run race that he can make an appearance and I can give him my thanks in person.

Thanks again and lots of prayers and good thoughts for Karsen's recovery after the graft yesterday. =)

-Candace