Running for Clarice ...

"When your loved one is diagnosed with cancer, it is one of the scariest moments in life. My mother-in-law, Clarice Coston, was diagnosed with it and fought the battle for over 3 years prior to her passing in 2016. During that time, the best anyone could do was listen to our fears and be there for us as we tried to support her in her fight. When she died, there was sadness and emptiness. We wanted to honor her memory in some way. For us, that way was to run in races like the Donna Marathon Weekend. We have helped raise money for the Donna Foundation through these races and that allows us to support those fighting as well as their friends and family helping them fight.

Advice? It’s okay not to be okay as you and your loved ones fight this battle. 

We have been runners over the last 10 years, and to see someone out on the course wearing pink, sporting a shirt or running skirt to show they were running for the cause, the cause to find a cure, meant so much. 

We have been producing the Run Eat Drink Podcast for almost three years now. We travel the US featuring destination races that usually support causes and charities, the way Donna Marathon does. We bring our audience amazing races they can run, like 5Ks, 10Ks, and Half-Marathons. And once they’ve accomplished the goal, we tell them where they can explore in that city for amazing food and where to go to indulge in tasty beverages.

When we started the show, our good friends at Pure Creative Apparel designed our logo and made our gear. They again came to our aid and designed a special version of our logo so we could have shirts with the pink ribbon, representing the fight to end cancer as well as my mother-in-law’s name. Then I reached out to Bolder Athletic Wear, formerly SparkleSkirts, to put her name and our logo in pink on the running skirt I’d wear at Donna Marathon Weekend where we’d run the half marathon to honor Clarice. Running in this gear, meeting others doing the same and those running and still fighting as well as crossing the finish line to honor her was an emotional and amazing experience. One we have repeated for the last three years. 

Run for a cause makes it possible to run for yourself and at the same time make it count in the battle to help others.”

Aimee