Putting the “I” in “Purpose”

By Daniel Rajnik

When I first joined team AllEars last year, I thought the tag-line was “Running with Porpoise”. As I thought about how fun it would be finding running shoes to fit a dolphin, my wife gently explained to me it said Running with “Purpose”, not “Porpoise.”

“Purpose?” I thought, “whatever THAT meant..”

Well, I actually knew what that meant. In joining Team AllEars I knew I was committing to raising funds to help with Deb’s fight against breast cancer, but in all honesty, it wasn’t the #1 reason in wanting to join. I wanted to run a half marathon, I wanted to do it in Walt Disney World, and I knew I needed help doing it. The promise of getting that help from Team AllEars was just too cool to pass up. So I joined, and my journey to the 2011 Marathon Weekend began.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Spaceship Earth”¦

As the team evolved and grew, I began to read more about why others had joined – personal stories of fights with cancer, memories of loved ones already lost, and concern for friends and family that may have to fight the disease themselves someday.

And as the training miles piled up on my “new” running shoes, I was also humbled by my friends and family’s generous response to my own fund raising efforts. Quietly, I realized my reason for being on Team AllEars was changing and the team’s goal was becoming my goal.

Fast forward to January 2011. My training completed, my fund raising goals exceeded, and my travel reservations secured, I was at a fever pitch anticipating meeting my Team AllEars family in person and tackling a fitness goal that I thought was unattainable. Well, at least I thought it was a “fever pitch.” Unfortunately, it turned out it was just a real fever. Three days before my trip, I came down with the flu – not just any flu – but last year’s version of H1N1.

I was devastated – stuck in bed, cursed by my own thoughts. No trip to the World. No half marathon. No meeting up with people I had corresponded with for months. But while I laid there feeling both physically and mentally sick, I was reminded of how powerful the drawings of a three and six year old child can be. My kids (with the help of my wife, I’m sure) created a new team, Team “No-tEars.” While it was a small team (comprising of rather small people), they did make their own posters and drawings designed to cheer me up and show me that I had achieved something great, even if I didn’t get a chance to prove it physically in Florida. And they were right, I had become part of a community – Team AllEars – something that was furthest from my mind when I joined almost a year before.

So while I didn’t make it to the race in 2011 (let alone complete it), I did realize that “I” had become part of the “purpose.” And as I look forward to tackling the full marathon in January 2012, I look forward even more for getting a chance to finally meet those I’ve known virtually for almost two years, and those that will be experiencing Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend for the first time (just like me).

Postscript

While I failed to complete my first half marathon at Walt Disney World, I’m happy to say that with the help of fellow Team AllEars teammates Brad and Jamison, I reached that goal in March 2011 by finishing the National Half Marathon. Now bring on 26.2!