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Crawford running marathon for Alzheimer’s Association
By Justin Goble
Running 26.2 miles is an accomplishment unto itself, but Nancy Crawford is going one step further – she’s running that distance to raise money for a good cause.
Crawford, who works in Jackson County’s Housing and Urban Development department, will be running the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 26. She is taking sponsorships for her run on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association and hopes to raise $1,500 for the organization.
The race will be Crawford’s first marathon. She said she started running earlier this year as a way to get in shape and had never thought about running a marathon.
Nancy Crawford, here competing in the Firecracker 5K in Bryson City, will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. Sunday, Oct. 26, in support of the Alzheimer’s Association. She is currently taking sponsorships for the 26-mile run, which will be her first marathon. For more information about Crawford’s run or to make a donation, visit online at http://alz.kintera.org/run/nancycrawford.
“I really saw running as a means to an end,” she said. “I wanted to lose weight. I thought the best way to do it was to get moving. It’s funny because I never thought of myself as a runner. I hated running. At most, I used to run once every six months. But once I started doing it regularly, I started to enjoy it. But I never thought I would do a marathon. I always thought it would be cool to do, but I never thought it would happen.”
That all changed when Crawford hooked up with the Mountain Milers, a running group that regularly trains for marathons. The group meets every Saturday morning at the Recreation Center in Cullowhee.
Though initially reluctant to become part of the group, Crawford said a co-worker finally got her to join.
“(Local car dealer) Scott Rodes is in the group and he would keep telling me to come out on Saturday mornings,” she said. “I would always say I might be there but never showed up. Then I found out Kelly Fuqua, who works with the county, too, is also in the group. She finally got me to start coming out on Saturday mornings.”
Running with the group has propelled inton Crawford covering distances she never thought she could run. Although she hasn’t run the length of a marathon yet, Crawford said she’s more than confident she’ll be able to do so.
“The most I’ve done so far is 20 miles,” she said. “We increase our distance every other Saturday, so for the past few months every other Saturday has been the farthest I’ve ever run in my life. What’s amazing me is that there’s a real possibility I could finish the race in less than five hours. I had set a goal for myself to beat five-and-a-half hours, but I’ve been able to do my longer runs faster than I thought I could. I’m really excited about that.”
As for running in support of the Alzheimer’s Association, Crawford said it happened by chance. Initially she wanted to sign up and run the marathon for her own edification. However, by the time she decided to run the registration had been closed.
“It was too late to sign up for the marathon like you normally would,” she said. “The only way available at the time was to do it through a sponsorship program. So I thought about it and decided that I really wanted to do this marathon. If I’m able to help out a good cause in doing so, that’s great too.”
Though she was able to choose from many charitable organizations, Crawford said she chose to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association because the group’s work hits close to home.
“I guess I might be a little lucky in that a lot of the causes didn’t personally affect me,” she said. “Not that I don’t think they are amazing causes. I fully support their work. But the Alzheimer’s Association was the only one that affected me. My husband’s father had it until he passed away last year, and his two uncles have the disease as well. So it’s something we’ve been dealing with for a long time. Another thing that’s good about it is that a lot of the money they raise goes directly to support, care and research for Alzheimer’s patients. I found out that 82 percent of their funds goes directly to people suffering from the disease.”
Crawford said she has only been taking donations for a couple weeks and has already raised $375.
“It’s amazing that people have been so quick to support this whole thing,” she said. “It really took me by surprise, and I’m really grateful people are sponsoring the run. Along with the people who have already donated, some have committed to it as well. They’re just waiting until the end to put their money in. So there’s a lot of support.”
While excited about running her first marathon, Crawford said doing it for charity will make it even more special.
“I knew I could do it after I did my 17-mile run, which was on July 26. Before that I never thought it was a possibility. I would be so nervous and my stomach would hurt before I even started my long runs. But after that I felt so good. I knew I could finish a marathon, and that’s an amazing feeling. The fact that I’ll be doing my first one to support the Alzheimer’s Association puts a different spin on it. It does put a little more pressure on me, but it also makes it that much more special. It’s just really exciting.”
To become one of Crawford’s marathon sponsors, visit online at http://alz.kintera.org/run/nancycrawford
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