Walt Disney Leukemia & Eye Disease Marathon

WALT DISNEY WORLD® Road Races are designed to capture your imagination.
The latest.....
24,000 Participants....
2004 WALT DISNEY WORLD® MARATHON...Jan. 11, 2004
Place Last Name First Name Age Gender State
7406.. FERNANDEZ CHAD....32.....M..... FL.....
Official Time Net Time Pace
6:03:07......5:54:36..13:51.5

Our son, Chad, ran in this race and you can see the above-posted results on the Disney Page Events. It is amazing that he finished it as well as he did (top 31%)since he was not as well prepared as days of long ago.
Chad has climbed mountains in Colorado, Mt. Crestone which is 14,000 ft..... participated in several Triathlons, which consist of 1-mile swim, 28-mile bike and 6 mile run.... and is always seeking a new adventure...
He is the one who enticed me into skydiving with him. What an unbelievable adventure!
Chad said this race was special since many of the participants were running in memory of someone and had that posted on their backs....Can you imagine running 26.2 miles this soon after Christmas?
Needless to say, the family is proud of Chad’s run....
...The last mile was the killer for him.... took special, untapped strength to finish the mark. BUT FINISH HE DID AND WITH A RESPECTABLE PLACE. Awesome....
Chad’s physical challenges have been tested time and time again....and each time he has pushed it to the limit.....and won the ‘fortitude test’ within himself....
Do we not all have some....untapped strength....that life has not tested?
The ‘comfort zone’ of life is surely a ‘cozy nest’.....but people like Chad put many of us to shame....not just in the physical sense....but in the ‘meeting life head on’ kind of mentality....
The “I Dare You” challenge is before us daily.....to step out of the known....into the unknown....and test many areas of our character that have never been explored before. This challenge gets us out of the ‘rut’ of life, the mediocre of life, the ‘ordinary’ way of living and being....
It makes us MORE of who we can be....and proves again and again....we are all stronger than we realize ....at any age....
Doesn’t take much to be....a couch potato....a mental infant...an emotional child ...a spiritual midget or a totally indifferent human being....Do NOTHING and it happens automatically.
Challenging ourselves...against our own past selves.....daily.....requires constant growth and involvement in many aspects of life....
Chad’s Marathon run was a good reminder to me....of how sloppy I have gotten in life.....The New Year is a challenge for me personally.
I DARE YOU....to join me....in making 2004....THE BEST YEAR EVER....Happy, Happy, Happy.....New Year!

After writing my today's page....I received the following response from Chad.....
He put it all in perspective for me....

Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 10:56 AM
Subject: RE: Todays Web Page.....

Mom:

Thank you for your wonderful and beautiful acknowledgement. It makes the intense pain much more worth it in order
to push one's self further than one could imagine. At that point the illusion of fear disappears and the reality of self-confidence and belief in a higher authority takes place. It was in that last mile that I ran that race.
The first 25 were just a preparation for the real race, the last mile.
In that mile, I realized that "I can" do anything I set my mind to. No matter the physical or mental challenge, there is no excuse acceptable to stop a determined person. Add in the spiritual "thrust" of your belief in God and you have in mind an "unstoppable person". Now imagine channeling that same energy into finding a cure for cancer, for Aids, for diseases that cause blindness(like Uncle Dockie's) and what you have is the purest of determination. Here is the irony. If one could bottle this stuff, "the last mile stuff", one would be richer than anyone on earth. But it is in this stuff, that comes from above that true greatness is realized. On this day that I sit here in unbelievable pain, and barely able to walk, ask me if I would do it over again, and I would say, sure, when?

Magic, miracles and the purest of love, live in the "last mile". I found out the secret to it all, don't give up on mile 25.

Love ya,

Chad
-----Original Message