Isabella's Dream Team - Isabella Santos Foundation

I’m a Gym Class failure.

July 14, 2016/in Isabella's Dream Team/by Rachel Wood

dream_team_runderpants Let me rephrase that. I’m the daughter of a PE teacher AND a Gym Class failure. In Junior High School I wouldn’t run a mile. Not a single mile. The thought of getting sweaty, of being lapped by the athletic kids, of coming in last, was just too much. So instead, I did NOTHING. NOTHING at all. I failed for lack of trying.

5 years ago, after having my third son, I decided it was time it was time to stop being afraid of physically failing. I had 3 boys in 2.5 years. I was tired, I was overweight, I was ready for a change. I registered for my first 5K and announced to my family and friends that I was doing it – because then I was accountable to more than just myself. 4 months later I crossed my first finish line.

Over the past 5 years I’ve pushed myself past my comfort zone. First it was a half marathon, then two and three, then I announced I would do ONLY ONE full marathon. ONLY ONE. When I finished the marathon, my entire family was there, including my Dad, the retired PE Teacher. He told me how proud he was of me, and then said “ok, you did it, that’s enough.” I may have redeemed myself with my dad, but marathons are like childbirth, after a while, you forget about the pain and want another.

When I heard about the ISF Dream Team in early 2015 I sent Coach Tom an email. I said I wanted to join the team, but wouldn’t be their strongest runner and asked if I could be a part anyway. He welcomed me and invited me to join them for a run. At the time, I didn’t truly understand what the Dream Team was all about. I went to my first team run on an early summer morning, all alone, not knowing a single person. I feared it was going to be gym class all over again. I soon realized it wasn’t about being fastest or who would run the longest distance. It was about running for a greater purpose, running for a cause, running for a cure, running for Isabella.

In Fall 2015, I ran the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon with the ISF Dream Team. We all gathered at the starting line, wearing our purple. Coach Tom helped us stretch, put us in the right frame of mind, and reminded us why we were there. Of all the races I’ve run, this one was the most emotional. Throughout the course, I continued to see spectators holding purple signs cheering on the Dream Team. During one particularly grueling hill, when the crowds had thinned and I was struggling, I looked to the sidewalk and saw Stuart Santos. I had never met him before, but I knew who he was. I yelled “hey ISF!” and he yelled back “go Dream Team go go go…”. I could still hear him cheering when I made it to the top. I swear it was knowing that Isabella’s Dad was on the sidelines that pushed me up that hill.

juliane_isf_dream_team

It’s the feeling of running for something bigger than myself that pushes me to keep going. To know that this Dream Team of ours is making a difference, in Isabella’s honor, motivates me at each and every run. This year I’m running the New York City Marathon and the Charlotte Half Marathon in the same week. 25 years ago this Gym Class Failure refused to run a mile and now I invite you to share in my journey towards 39.3.

Beginning Again …

July 12, 2016/in Isabella's Dream Team/by Rachel Wood

A little background …

I began this whole running thing about 10 years ago. What all started as a random goal to run the entire trail around my local park (3.7 miles) blossomed into a full on obsession. I would work to find new ways to constantly challenge myself, whether it be running faster, farther or more often. My first half marathon happened solely because a friend once told me that “if you can run 4 miles, you can run 13.” I thought that concept was completely absurd … to the point that I even accused her of being full of sh*t … yet I was registered for my first half before the sun set that same day. Less than one year later I was registered for my first full.

Over these last 10 years I’ve run thousands of miles and done dozens of races. I would find my motivation from whatever training schedule was plastered on the front of my fridge. That schedule would become my livelihood; if it’s wasn’t on that dang calendar, then it didn’t exist. When a new schedule would hit the fridge, there was a level of excitement that would come with it; the thrill of beginning the journey all over again. I dare to even say (and hate to admit) that the schedule almost became priority over *mostly* all else. I wouldn’t miss out on the important family events or organized kiddo activities, but you better believe that when those things interfered with THE schedule, there was a level of anxiety that ensued, followed by a frantic rearranging of planned workouts. How my husband didn’t disown me during these days is beyond me.

At some point in the last couple of years, my mindset started to shift quite a bit. Maybe I just started feeling the burn out and was tired of dealing with injuries (I’ve had an overflowing handful of stress fractures). Perhaps it happened when kiddo #2 came along. Or perhaps it was just the wisdom that came with age … although I think that theory is probably the most unlikely (wisdom? ME?). I ran my 10th marathon in May 2015, this time just barely coasting through training doing the bare minimum. My body hurt, my mental game wasn’t there … and it turned out to be the hardest race of my running career. When I crossed the finish, I deemed that marathon to be my LAST marathon. Maybe not forever … but for a LOOOOONG time. I spent the months following that race living by the “ran as far as I want, when I want, as fast or slow as I want” mentality, and I quickly learned that I LOVED it.

Fast forward about 10 months …

Z04 I was out for a run with a friend who mentions that she was considering jumping in the lottery for the Chicago Marathon. I don’t think I have to really spell out how that story ended:

So here I am, beginning this marathon journey all over again. I’m following the FIRST plan … running only 3 times a week and cross-training two times per week. My weeks basically consist of: Monday – boxing; Tuesday – track workout; Wednesday – boxing; Thursday – tempo run; Friday – Rest, Stretch, Roll; Saturday – long run, Sunday – sit on my butt as much as humanly possible. I am two weeks in and, other than the adjusting to having a real schedule again (not to mention those 4:45am alarms!), things seem to be going well so far. I am a little tired and stuck in a perpetual state of soreness … as my boxing classes are just as much squats, lunges, burpees, planks, mountain climbers, frog jumps, bear crawls, and other forms of various torture as much as they are actual boxing … on top of the speed work and long runs. But I know my body will adjust to the higher volume soon. The first two weeks have looked a little something like this:

Z01

Z07

Z03

Week 3 may prove a teeny more challenging … as it’s family vacation week. And when you add beach + booze, needless to say the running becomes a wee bit more difficult. But who cares, because … VACATION!!

Z06

Road trip!! My lovely other half happens to hate being in front of the camera, so he was gracious enough to include his shoulder in our vacation selfie .

I’ll still get my scheduled runs in but my cross-training days will most likely consist of holding down a raft while I practice 12oz curls. But that’s okay … because I’m working hard on keeping that balance and learning that there can be a happy medium that goes along with training. Making your goals a priority without making them THE priority.

I will admit that there is one thing I have always been good at … whether I was at the “married to the calendar” end of the spectrum or the complete opposite … and that is not letting the big picture get too overwhelming … just taking one week at a time, one workout at a time. But the difference between now and my “obsessive training” days is that I’m finding the motivation to get out there in places other than that schedule on the fridge. The Dream Team has been a tremendous help in that department. Seeing all the posts of everyone getting out there and doing their thing (even before training officially started!), gets me out there to do my thing. Seeing all those purple filled pictures gives me reason to not turn off that alarm and roll back over. Seeing everybody working to lift everyone else up is a type of inspiration that you can’t find just anywhere. My mantra when things get tough has consistently been “one mile at a time”, forcing me to just focus on the goal. Sometimes it has worked, sometimes is hasn’t; but now as a member of Isabella’s Dream Team, that mantra gets me through every time. Because we’re all doing this for the same reason. For the same goal. And If Isabella can fight Neuroblastoma for 5 years … over 70% of her life … then, dammit, we can make it one more freaking mile. And all the miles after that.

Running with a Purpose

June 21, 2016/in 'Why' Series, Isabella's Dream Team/by Rachel Wood

By Erin Santos

Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 3.00.16 PM I know the benefits of running. I know that it’s good for your body; it keeps you in shape and is one of the most effective sources of exercise. I have known that forever, but sometimes it’s just not enough to get you outside. I go through periods of time where I run and will stick with it for a while. But, something always gets in the way and I take some fork in the road and I find myself losing motivation.

As the President of a local charity, I was researching what drives people and a reoccurring theme was purpose. Millennials especially are driven by purpose. Not just in their giving strategies but in life. They will take jobs that may not fall in line with their income goals because they feel an attachment to something in the position and feel it somehow gives them purpose. I loved thinking that people were being driven not by financial goals but by helping others, feeling a sense of community, or contributing to a higher purpose.

This research initiated a thought in my head about running. I ran a marathon for a charity in my early 20s. Back when training for a marathon was easier than when you train as a wife and mother. I didn’t know much about the charity. I listened to their stories, met great people and even got a tattoo at the end of the marathon that I regret daily. But looking back on the training, I am not sure if I really pushed myself or blew anyone away with my fundraising efforts. The story didn’t touch me personally and while I felt sympathy for those who were affected by the charity; I still kept the story at arm’s length. I was sympathetic, but I wasn’t sure it ever crossed over to empathy.

Screen Shot 2016-06-21 at 3.00.56 PM I lost my 7-year-old daughter Isabella to cancer 4 years ago on June 28^th. It was the most horrifying experience of my life. I imagine it’s like going to the front lines of war and I feel the PTSD from witnessing it first hand every day. I’ve helped grow the Isabella Santos Foundation into a very successful charity that raises money for Neuroblastoma research and it has helped me so much in the healing process. The best part about having a foundation in her name is that she continues to live on through others. This is all you want after losing someone close to you, especially a child. Things were progressing and growing with the foundation and I thought this was how things would be with her charity year after year.

Two years ago I heard rumblings that someone wanted to create a running group for the Thunder Road Half Marathon (now known as the Charlotte Marathon) and the goal would be to train together and raise money for ISF. Since I had done this kind of thing before, I immediately joined the team. It was a small but fierce team with many new names and faces. Some people on the team knew her, but some didn’t. They followed her story and felt inspired to run. She had been gone just two years and it was a great way to take my mind off things and focus again on Isabella’s wish of a world with no more cancer. There were about 20 of us and together we raised close to $34,000.

The following year we grew to 60 runners. It was becoming something else entirely. Each run I attended I would meet new people and learn how they came to know my daughter’s story. The amount of people that never knew her was outweighing those that did. These total strangers were waking up before the sun to run in purple with my daughter’s name on their back. There is nothing more motivating than watching someone whom you have never met, run in front of you as you read, “We run for Isabella, and other children fighting cancer.” It wasn’t their daughter, their niece or their friend. But they were out running for her.

Tim Dream Team Something had happened that moved them from being sympathetic to having empathy. The hand they once put up that didn’t allow a story to get too close to their heart was taken down and they embraced our story as their own. They ran their hearts out; they fundraised and cheered for each other. They became a family. She was not only my daughter, she became theirs.

So many times people would tell me about personal goals they accomplished and they only completed it because they were motivated by Isabella. Whenever they thought about giving up or quitting, they new they couldn’t because she never did. It’s an amazing honor to think that even in death you can motivate someone. She was somehow giving them purpose. I’m always blown away by the commitment and dedication you will receive when you have purpose. You begin to accomplish things you never thought you could when you have purpose. This second year team of 60 people raised over $100,000.

I often wonder what is going through their head when they run. Do they talk to her? Do they feel her in the wind at their back? What makes them beat their fastest time? What pushes them to run the extra mile they thought they couldn’t or suppresses the voice that tells them to walk? It’s her. She comes in just when you need her by putting that familiar Taylor Swift song on their running mix. She comes when you think about walking but someone passes you and says, “Keep going for Isabella!” out of nowhere. She comes when you see that dragonfly cross your path or notice someone running towards you in purple. She motivates you because you know you are doing this for her and other children who are fighting cancer. You find purpose in this run.

What these people do for me is something they will never comprehend. I often times feel so screwed up from the grief process or lack of grief process that I have gone through in her death. I put her away in a box and bury it deep inside because I don’t know how to deal. But I know that once training starts in July, I am able to bring her out and allow her to run alongside me. I start to share close personal stories with total strangers because I feel safe with them. We have a common purpose and they are my family. I run to make her feel real again. Erin next to grave DT

There should be more things we do with our life that make something feel real or give us purpose. Purpose can be the most motivating thing when it comes to setting and accomplishing goals and running can be a part of this. I have worked out the majority of my life and oddly, I find myself, at 39 years old, in the best shape of my life. Maybe because in my 20s I was looking for purpose and couldn’t find it. I’m one year away from 40 and I finally found it. It’s Isabella’s Dream Team.

We share a common purpose. She runs alongside us and our goal is to find a cure for cancer in her name. And we will do it, together. This year we are hoping to be 200 strong. Who knows what we will accomplish together, but it’s guaranteed to be one of the most fulfilling things people will do with their life this year.

Find your purpose and run for it.

Learn more about us? Watch our video then email Tom Patania at tom@isabellasantosfoundation.com to join Isabella’s Dream Team, powered by OrthoCarolina.

Want to learn about the Dream Team?

Dream Team

Cancer Messed with the Wrong Kid

March 2, 2016/in Isabella's Dream Team/by Rachel Wood

Cancer Messed with the Wrong Kid…

Isabella’s Dream Team is an endurance running program that raises money for The Isabella Santos Foundation (ISF), while training for half and full marathons. ISF is a local Charlotte non-profit charity that raises money for Neuroblastoma research, as well as, supporting our community.

Our goal is to connect people to Isabella and her story, but, unfortunately, her story is just one of many. On average, 163 U.S. children will lose their battle with cancer each month. Did you know that childhood cancer receives less than 4% government funding for research?

Children in the richest nation, with the highest standard of living, the greatest world power, the country that went to the moon, has to rely on lemonade stands, cookie sales, parents shaving their heads and running marathons all to raise money to the stop the #1 killer of our children.

“I’ve always believed that you should fight for good causes because you should – it’s what you do. If you can make a difference, do it.” – Kelly C. {Isabella’s Dream Team in 2015}

We continue to be a volunteer based grassroots effort, and look to grow our impact locally and expand into other communities. We are currently recruiting runners and run walkers to join our passionate team in Charlotte and surrounding areas. If you are not local to Charlotte, you could join us virtually from your town, select your own race and still be a part of this growing movement.

Our team has experienced tremendous growth over the past two seasons and we do not expect anything less in 2016.

2014: 25 participants raising $34,000
2015: 64 participants raising $113,000
2016: 100 participants raising $150,000 (goal)

The fundraising component is minimal compared to the larger charities that ask you to cover the difference if you do not meet the minimum. We simply ask each participant to fundraise at least $500, but our hope is that each person will fundraise much more than that. We have very awesome incentives that run each month that encourages everyone to raise the bar.

“I’m running because no parent should have to hear the words, ‘we’re out of options’. I’m running because awareness is nothing next to action.” – Andrew M. {Isabella’s Dream Team 2015}

Our target races this year: RnR Savannah (11/5), Charlotte Marathon (11/12), Nashville Marathon (11/12); all races have a half and full option with the Charlotte Marathon having a marathon relay (5 runners: 4-6 miles increments). Last year, we had teammates that ran the NYC Marathon and Route 66 Half Marathon on behalf of our team. This year, one will be running the Marine Corps Marathon. It’s your choice what race you’d like to do, and we could always tweak the training schedule to match your race calendar.

What we provide:

Training schedules (half, marathon & marathon relay)
Team swag
Weekend long runs, weekday run options
Socials
Camaraderie
Motivation

How to join the team?

Email Coach Tom at tom@isabellasantosfoundation.com
Create your First Giving fundraising page: Isabella’s Dream Team – 2016
Register for your race and distance
Recruit your friends, family, coworkers to join via social media and let them know you just joined #isabellasdreamteam

Cancer does not define who we are, but the way we fight it does. Join the fight.

Fight cancer. Run with us.

Fight Cancer. Run with us.

May 4, 2015/in Isabella's Dream Team, ISF Events/by Rachel Wood

ISABELLE’S DREAM TEAM – 2015

By Tom Patania

On March 9th, we unveiled the details for Isabella’s Dream Team – 2015. This date was picked specifically because it would have been Isabella’s 10th birthday. Not only is she the Founder of ISF, she is the inspiration behind this team. Our focus is about Isabella, and following her dream of creating a world with “no more cancer.” We continue the fight for her and the many children that are also battling cancer.

Last year, in our inaugural year, the team was filled with passionate and selfless individuals that came together to surpass our wildest expectations. The 2014 team raised $34,000. This program continues to be a volunteer based, grassroots effort without the high overhead of a large charity. We ask each participant to fundraise a minimum of $500 (but our hope is that each will shoot for much more than that). What we lack in advertising dollars we make up for with heart and community.

“Though she be but little, she is fierce.” – Shakespeare

In an effort to grow our team and our impact, we are recruiting runners and run/walkers that want to join our mission of helping make a little girl’s dream come true.

This year each athlete has a choice. We will be training for two races: Rock N Roll Savannah (Nov 7th) or Thunder Road (Nov 14) half or full marathons. With this being a volunteer effort, we ask that each participant sign up for their race of choice. Our hope is that the athletes that choose to run RnR Savannah will take part in supporting and cheering for those that are running Thunder Road, and to support our Charlotte community. The ISF10K/5K for Kids Cancer (Sept 26th) will be a part of our training program, so each team member will want to sign up for that race as well.

Official team training will start the week of July 13th and training schedules will be available for both distances. Included in the training schedule will be speed & hill workouts (Blakeney area) and Saturday long runs (various locations – early morning). I highly encourage all of you to attend as many team runs as possible.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK