Valentine’s Day is all about love. And this Valentine’s Day, Indian River alumnus Catie Cummings embodied the ultimate love by raising money in one of many fundraisers for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and recovering IRHS student, cancer patient and friend Elizabeth Shoemaker.
Cummings and fellow alumni Ellen Dupont and Krista Littleton recently decided to join the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society marathon “team in training” to raise money for research.
They each must raise $5,000 before they can participate in the 26.2 mile marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, on June 23. Some 75 percent of the $5,000 entry fee kicks back to cancer research.
And it appears Cummings is off to a good start following her first fundraiser.
She and a host of Indian River students raised a $150 dollars, from 11-1 p.m., during their lunch periods on Valentine’s Day, by selling hearts with a space to write words of encouragement to Shoemaker.
And soon they’ll sell T-shirts adorned with the phrase “262MIFORESHOE,” in reference a marathon Cummings, Dupont and Littleton all will run. “Twenty-six-2-MI(les)-FOR-ESHOE” is the phrase that’s motivated the ladies to train every day — no matter the conditions — for the marathon.
“It’s been tough on our bodies,” Cummings said. “But it can’t compare to chemo(therapy).”
“And that’s what I think about when I don’t want to get out of my bed to run a 7 a.m. when the wind’s blowing and it’s 10 degrees outside,” she added.
Each day, they run anywhere between 2 and 4 miles. They’ve trained with former marathon runner and coach Liz West up in Newark every Saturday, starting on Feb. 3.
Cummings and Littleton ran 6.5 miles in their first session with West. They’ll see that number increase to 10, then 13 miles, and so forth, leading right up to the marathon.
“It’ll keep increasing as we get closer to the date,” Cummings explained.
And on that day, Cummings is hopeful that Shoemaker feels strong enough to make the trip too.
“Elizabeth is planning to come, as long as she feels well enough to travel,” Cummings said.
“She stays so positive and never gets down,” she added.
“It was really excited to see her out there today,” Cummings added of Shoemaker’s presence at her first fundraiser. “She was so tired last night when we went to dinner that I didn’t expect her to be there. So it was really exciting to see her there with all her hearts with messages for her with words of encouragement, and we had signed posters up. It was really exciting to see so many people supporting her.
The “262MILFORESHOE” T-shirts will go on sale sometime next week, for $15, and can be purchased by contacting senior class secretary Kelly Jurusik at Indian River High School.
Littleton is holding her first fundraiser at an open-mic night at the Chalkboard restaurant in Bethany Beach on Feb. 22. A percentage of all the proceeds from that night go directly toward Littleton’s entry fee and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.