Running hOUme
Reading Time: 15 minutes
“My mama always told me that miracles happen every day. Some people don’t think so, but they do.” – Forrest’ This week, our team got very competitive to win the fundraising challenge that was going on from July 5th through July 25th. We raised enough money to do a trash mile, dye our teammates’ hair blue, and last but not least, get a blindfolded haircut! | 🇺🇸 Columbus (OH), United States of America |
In this time period, the four 4K teams were competing to receive the most donations, the most donors, or the highest percentage. Not sure what the last one meant, but we ended up winning the percentage!
Click on the "Read More" button to read the full post
Click on the "Read More" button to read the full post
Week 6 also marks miracles such as seeing a lot of people that are very dear to me including Caden and Vila, we were also meeting dogs that pick up trash along the highway, picking up trash ourselves as a fundraiser, getting fair tickets donated and pocket money to spent on the rides, and securing a new host for Pittsburgh within a day after the original host found out they double booked. All these remarkable experiences with the 4K definitely did one thing for me: It restored my faith in humanity. Read more about week 6 below:
DAY 36⠀
Salem, IL ➡️ Evansville, IN⠀
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 21 km (13.1 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 211 km (132 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 3,251 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Cristina⠀
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Marjolein van Esveld, Rosalie Verbeek, and Rina Rodenberg Meijer⠀
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Yolanda, Sandra Schaffer, Anton⠀
⠀
SAVE THE PLANET! With this motto in mind and the donations raised by our team, thanks to you, we ran some “trash miles” today. My field hockey buddy Cristina and I had so much fun gathering 3 bags of trash on 3 of our legs. In total we ran 13 miles (21 kilometers) today, so another half marathon distance in the pocket AND a cleaner environment along the road from Illinois to our new state Indiana. ⠀
⠀
MORE ABOUT Yolanda: ⠀
Yolanda shared her story with Ulman and our team, which my friend Laurel read during our dedication circle this morning. Yolanda was diagnosed with cancer and treated in Maryland. Before her diagnoses, she lost her only son and husband in a shooting and her parents from cancer... Yolanda has been in remission since 2018 and Ulman was a huge resource to her! ⠀
Salem, IL ➡️ Evansville, IN⠀
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 21 km (13.1 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 211 km (132 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 3,251 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Cristina⠀
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Marjolein van Esveld, Rosalie Verbeek, and Rina Rodenberg Meijer⠀
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Yolanda, Sandra Schaffer, Anton⠀
⠀
SAVE THE PLANET! With this motto in mind and the donations raised by our team, thanks to you, we ran some “trash miles” today. My field hockey buddy Cristina and I had so much fun gathering 3 bags of trash on 3 of our legs. In total we ran 13 miles (21 kilometers) today, so another half marathon distance in the pocket AND a cleaner environment along the road from Illinois to our new state Indiana. ⠀
⠀
MORE ABOUT Yolanda: ⠀
Yolanda shared her story with Ulman and our team, which my friend Laurel read during our dedication circle this morning. Yolanda was diagnosed with cancer and treated in Maryland. Before her diagnoses, she lost her only son and husband in a shooting and her parents from cancer... Yolanda has been in remission since 2018 and Ulman was a huge resource to her! ⠀
DAY 37⠀
📍 Evansville, IN
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 0 km (rest day)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 0 km (service day)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: NA ⠀
👭Running buddy: NA
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Yvonne van Goes, Danny Dudart, and Sam Sanders
💕Today I dedicate to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen
⠀
Today marks the eight service day of our trip and we got to sleep in as the event didn’t start until noon! My body still woke me up at 7 AM haha, so I got to work on my blog and later find out that the screen of my cracked Iphone officially died with black spots all over it. When noon rolled around, we were interviewed at the local hospital before we met with current patients who were receiving chemo that day. Brie and I were able to talk to Mark and later Lesie who we each gave one of our chemo care packages filled with fuzzy socks, a crossword puzzle, and some information about Ulman. Later that day, our lovely host Pam, surprised us with T-shirts with our route on and we got free tickets to my first American fair experience! It is so funny to see a petting zoo at the fair as the ones at home normally only offer food stands and rides, haha.
📍 Evansville, IN
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 0 km (rest day)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 0 km (service day)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: NA ⠀
👭Running buddy: NA
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Yvonne van Goes, Danny Dudart, and Sam Sanders
💕Today I dedicate to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen
⠀
Today marks the eight service day of our trip and we got to sleep in as the event didn’t start until noon! My body still woke me up at 7 AM haha, so I got to work on my blog and later find out that the screen of my cracked Iphone officially died with black spots all over it. When noon rolled around, we were interviewed at the local hospital before we met with current patients who were receiving chemo that day. Brie and I were able to talk to Mark and later Lesie who we each gave one of our chemo care packages filled with fuzzy socks, a crossword puzzle, and some information about Ulman. Later that day, our lovely host Pam, surprised us with T-shirts with our route on and we got free tickets to my first American fair experience! It is so funny to see a petting zoo at the fair as the ones at home normally only offer food stands and rides, haha.
DAY 38⠀
Evansville, IN ➡️ Salem, IN
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 20.8 km (13 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 200 km (125 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 5,898 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Anna
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Jonathan Crowe, D.H.M. Beentjes, and Quintin Fettes
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Dianne, Leslie, Mark, Evie,
Ceily, Amanda’s Pop Pop, and Emma Sanning
⠀
It was a fun day today as our entire team ran their first 2 miles at the host with Pam. Our host and her church have been hosting runners since 2013 and she even did the “point to point” event herself last year to run from Baltimore to Key West for cancer! I ran 13 miles (20.8 kilometers) with Anna today. The other 2 runners from van 2 were different every time since we have an odd number of groups. Today’s running made me think about day 49 since we will be running 20 miles together that day and I am so not ready for the last day… We finished day 38 with a lovely free massage at Kort Physical Therapy!
⠀
MORE ABOUT Evie: ⠀
During yesterday’s lunch at the church in Evansville, we met a lovely couple who pick up trash with their two dogs. One of their dogs, named Evie, was diagnosed with a tumor two years ago and her heart stopped during the surgery… Luckily, they were able to bring her back to life and she is now a happy, healthy 12-year old trash pick-up golden!
MORE ABOUT Emma: ⠀
Emma Sanning is a 2-year cancer survivor and was diagnosed 2.5 years ago during college. She ran across America last summer with Team Baltimore! Crazy idea I would have ran with this amazing human being last year if the concussion never happened... I am glad I got to meet her in Columbus last year when I surprise visited the team!
Evansville, IN ➡️ Salem, IN
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 20.8 km (13 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 200 km (125 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 5,898 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Anna
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Jonathan Crowe, D.H.M. Beentjes, and Quintin Fettes
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Dianne, Leslie, Mark, Evie,
Ceily, Amanda’s Pop Pop, and Emma Sanning
⠀
It was a fun day today as our entire team ran their first 2 miles at the host with Pam. Our host and her church have been hosting runners since 2013 and she even did the “point to point” event herself last year to run from Baltimore to Key West for cancer! I ran 13 miles (20.8 kilometers) with Anna today. The other 2 runners from van 2 were different every time since we have an odd number of groups. Today’s running made me think about day 49 since we will be running 20 miles together that day and I am so not ready for the last day… We finished day 38 with a lovely free massage at Kort Physical Therapy!
⠀
MORE ABOUT Evie: ⠀
During yesterday’s lunch at the church in Evansville, we met a lovely couple who pick up trash with their two dogs. One of their dogs, named Evie, was diagnosed with a tumor two years ago and her heart stopped during the surgery… Luckily, they were able to bring her back to life and she is now a happy, healthy 12-year old trash pick-up golden!
MORE ABOUT Emma: ⠀
Emma Sanning is a 2-year cancer survivor and was diagnosed 2.5 years ago during college. She ran across America last summer with Team Baltimore! Crazy idea I would have ran with this amazing human being last year if the concussion never happened... I am glad I got to meet her in Columbus last year when I surprise visited the team!
DAY 39⠀
Salem, IN ➡️ Cincinnati, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 21 km (13.1 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 211 km (132 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 4,761 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Katelyn Piech
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Victoria & Bert Neyhouse, Dopper, and Mantha
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Eliza, Rachel, Candice, Becky,
Victoria, Debbie, and Seth Warden
⠀
We crossed our eleventh state line today and which one: OHIO! The state I would almost consider home as I went here to college for four years and this is where I met my boyfriend and his lovely family about 2.5 years ago. I am very excited to see him tomorrow in Columbus! Especially after Laurel and I met up with Vilma today, one of my teammates from last year who ran with Team Baltimore that summer. Today was a fun day as I got to run with 5 different people due to knee injuries. I also ran my fastest 2 miles since my concussion – a 7:00 min/mile (4:30 min/km) pace! :D
⠀
MORE ABOUT Seth: ⠀
I met Seth my sophomore year at Ohio University when we were both pledging for the Theta Gamma chapter of our coed engineering fraternity Theta Tau. Ever since day 1, I had a great connection with him. I was very touched and devastated when he first told me about his cancer diagnoses in 2017. He had to drop out of college, but he made it back the next semester and is now a 2-year survivor!
Salem, IN ➡️ Cincinnati, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 21 km (13.1 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 211 km (132 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 4,761 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Katelyn Piech
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Victoria & Bert Neyhouse, Dopper, and Mantha
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Eliza, Rachel, Candice, Becky,
Victoria, Debbie, and Seth Warden
⠀
We crossed our eleventh state line today and which one: OHIO! The state I would almost consider home as I went here to college for four years and this is where I met my boyfriend and his lovely family about 2.5 years ago. I am very excited to see him tomorrow in Columbus! Especially after Laurel and I met up with Vilma today, one of my teammates from last year who ran with Team Baltimore that summer. Today was a fun day as I got to run with 5 different people due to knee injuries. I also ran my fastest 2 miles since my concussion – a 7:00 min/mile (4:30 min/km) pace! :D
⠀
MORE ABOUT Seth: ⠀
I met Seth my sophomore year at Ohio University when we were both pledging for the Theta Gamma chapter of our coed engineering fraternity Theta Tau. Ever since day 1, I had a great connection with him. I was very touched and devastated when he first told me about his cancer diagnoses in 2017. He had to drop out of college, but he made it back the next semester and is now a 2-year survivor!
DAY 40⠀
Cincinnati, OH ➡️ Columbus, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 22.4 km (14 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 219.2 km (137 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 4,628 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Mads
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Thamar Steenmeijer, Courtney Fularz, and Carolyn Bishop
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Claudia, and Mrs. Hayes,
⠀
Today was a weird one with some interesting occurrences such as finding full crockpots on the side of the road, spotting traffic signs that look like a wiener dog, and the van needed a jump start because we ran out of battery… It was also a lot of fun because we got to run a lot of the 14 miles as a team in community and state parks due to unsafe roads. After our adventures, I finally got to see my boyfriend, Caden, again when running to the host in Columbus! Gosh, I really missed him the past 2.5 months and cannot wait to see him again at the finish line in Baltimore.
Cincinnati, OH ➡️ Columbus, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 22.4 km (14 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 219.2 km (137 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 4,628 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Mads
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Thamar Steenmeijer, Courtney Fularz, and Carolyn Bishop
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Claudia, and Mrs. Hayes,
⠀
Today was a weird one with some interesting occurrences such as finding full crockpots on the side of the road, spotting traffic signs that look like a wiener dog, and the van needed a jump start because we ran out of battery… It was also a lot of fun because we got to run a lot of the 14 miles as a team in community and state parks due to unsafe roads. After our adventures, I finally got to see my boyfriend, Caden, again when running to the host in Columbus! Gosh, I really missed him the past 2.5 months and cannot wait to see him again at the finish line in Baltimore.
DAY 41⠀
📍 Columbus, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 0 (rest day)
🛤Team mileage: 0 (service day)
🏔Total elevation gain: NA
👭Running buddy: NA
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Rick de Regt, Tamara R. Hall, and Jonathan Buijs
💕Today I dedicate to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen
⠀
Last night, I got to catch up with my boyfriend and we had dinner with our friend Corey Hayes, who’s mom I ran for yesterday. Before leaving the host, Claudia, I got to see and talk to our founder again, Doug Ulman, who has been through cancer himself as a young adult and realized there wasn’t many resources available for young adults. Today, we got a tour through the James Cancer Center at Ohio State’s campus in Columbus. It felt a little strange being back in Columbus after running so far with the team and knowing I wouldn’t return to Ohio after this trip!
📍 Columbus, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 0 (rest day)
🛤Team mileage: 0 (service day)
🏔Total elevation gain: NA
👭Running buddy: NA
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Rick de Regt, Tamara R. Hall, and Jonathan Buijs
💕Today I dedicate to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen
⠀
Last night, I got to catch up with my boyfriend and we had dinner with our friend Corey Hayes, who’s mom I ran for yesterday. Before leaving the host, Claudia, I got to see and talk to our founder again, Doug Ulman, who has been through cancer himself as a young adult and realized there wasn’t many resources available for young adults. Today, we got a tour through the James Cancer Center at Ohio State’s campus in Columbus. It felt a little strange being back in Columbus after running so far with the team and knowing I wouldn’t return to Ohio after this trip!
DAY 42⠀
Columbus, OH ➡️ Canton, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 17.6 km (11 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 181 km (113 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 5,453 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Amber & Natalie
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Edgerton family, familie Nanne, and Kedar Halbe
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Claudia, Shonte, Diana Aziz,
and Amy Sloat
⠀
We got to run through Amish Country today! As a European, it was so bizarre to see a lot of Amish people with horses and buggies on the road! I never knew there was this many in Ohio until today, haha, I always thought it was a PA thing. Anyways, Natalie, Amber, and I had some amazing conversations and I am so proud of these girls. Proud for Amber for staying strong while going through a (starting) stress fracture and both ladies only recently started running for the first time in their lives! I also got to see another VT Geotech, Tat, who is currently doing an internship in this area.
⠀
MORE ABOUT Amy Sloat: ⠀
Maddie Sloat: “My mom has been a social worker for over 20 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer late April of this year and today she started a year’s worth of chemotherapy. She has the biggest heart, the most contagious laugh, and a weakness for donuts and chocolate – don’t we all. She has dedicated her life to working with patients in their own treatments and journeys.”
Columbus, OH ➡️ Canton, OH
⠀
🏃🏽♀️Personal mileage: 17.6 km (11 mi)⠀
🛤Team mileage: 181 km (113 mi)⠀
🏔Total elevation gain: 5,453 feet⠀
👭Running buddy: Amber & Natalie
🏆Donation shout out:⠀
Edgerton family, familie Nanne, and Kedar Halbe
💕Today I dedicate my miles to: ⠀
Leighton Hailey van Leeuwen, Claudia, Shonte, Diana Aziz,
and Amy Sloat
⠀
We got to run through Amish Country today! As a European, it was so bizarre to see a lot of Amish people with horses and buggies on the road! I never knew there was this many in Ohio until today, haha, I always thought it was a PA thing. Anyways, Natalie, Amber, and I had some amazing conversations and I am so proud of these girls. Proud for Amber for staying strong while going through a (starting) stress fracture and both ladies only recently started running for the first time in their lives! I also got to see another VT Geotech, Tat, who is currently doing an internship in this area.
⠀
MORE ABOUT Amy Sloat: ⠀
Maddie Sloat: “My mom has been a social worker for over 20 years. She was diagnosed with breast cancer late April of this year and today she started a year’s worth of chemotherapy. She has the biggest heart, the most contagious laugh, and a weakness for donuts and chocolate – don’t we all. She has dedicated her life to working with patients in their own treatments and journeys.”
Total Stats after 6 Weeks:
🏃🏽♀️Total Personal Distance: 561.2 kilometers (350.8 miles)
🛤Total Team Distance: 6,224 kilometers (3,890 miles)
Upcoming Route for Week 7:
Sunday (July 28th) Canton, OH – Youngstown, OH
Monday (July 29th) Youngstown, OH – Pittsburgh, PA
Tuesday (July 30th) Pittsburgh, PA (rest day 10)
Wednesday (July 31st) Pittsburgh, PA – Cumberland, MD
Thursday (Aug 1st) Cumberland, MD – Berkeley Springs, WV
Friday (Aug 2nd) Berkeley Springs, WV – Columbia, MD
Saturday (Aug 3rd) Columbia, MD – Baltimore, MD
By the time this post finally goes online, I will most likely be really close to finishing this journey or I have already made it to Baltimore (August 3rd). Keeping up with this website was quite challenging as uploading the pictures require a very good WiFi connection, something that is not always available in hosts like churches our fire stations. And what is a blog without pictures?
Luckily, I was able to keep up with my 4K social media, which was hopefully accessible to all of you during my journey. Through my Instagram and Facebook, I was able to thank all my 200+ individual donors. This journey would not have been complete without you and I enjoyed dedicating my miles to you, your friends, your significant other, or your family! I am especially thankful for the communities that embraced us over the past 6 weeks, they were all unique and inspired me to continue the 4K for cancer journey for their loved ones and mine: Cancer changes lives, so do we!
I am excited for week 7, our last week, of the 4K!
Love, Illona
🏃🏽♀️Total Personal Distance: 561.2 kilometers (350.8 miles)
🛤Total Team Distance: 6,224 kilometers (3,890 miles)
Upcoming Route for Week 7:
Sunday (July 28th) Canton, OH – Youngstown, OH
Monday (July 29th) Youngstown, OH – Pittsburgh, PA
Tuesday (July 30th) Pittsburgh, PA (rest day 10)
Wednesday (July 31st) Pittsburgh, PA – Cumberland, MD
Thursday (Aug 1st) Cumberland, MD – Berkeley Springs, WV
Friday (Aug 2nd) Berkeley Springs, WV – Columbia, MD
Saturday (Aug 3rd) Columbia, MD – Baltimore, MD
By the time this post finally goes online, I will most likely be really close to finishing this journey or I have already made it to Baltimore (August 3rd). Keeping up with this website was quite challenging as uploading the pictures require a very good WiFi connection, something that is not always available in hosts like churches our fire stations. And what is a blog without pictures?
Luckily, I was able to keep up with my 4K social media, which was hopefully accessible to all of you during my journey. Through my Instagram and Facebook, I was able to thank all my 200+ individual donors. This journey would not have been complete without you and I enjoyed dedicating my miles to you, your friends, your significant other, or your family! I am especially thankful for the communities that embraced us over the past 6 weeks, they were all unique and inspired me to continue the 4K for cancer journey for their loved ones and mine: Cancer changes lives, so do we!
I am excited for week 7, our last week, of the 4K!
Love, Illona