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Diabetes spurs Todd to join Hawaii marathon

By Rose Hooper
Joyce Todd Joyce Todd, parts manager at Allison's Chevrolet-Jeep, is now training for a 26.2 mile marathon in Kona, Hawaii, to honor those who have diabetes, a disease that affects many of her family members. - Herald photo by Rose Hooper Joyce Buchanan Todd used to be the kind of person who sat around and watched other people do exciting things. But now she's out there doing exciting things herself.

She will participate in her first marathon, the 2002 Team Diabetes Kona Marathon in Hawaii on June 23.

Todd is the only person from Western North Carolina to take on this life-changing challenge of completing the 26.2 miles in honor of some 16 million Americans currently living with diabetes.

The cause is dear to Todd since diabetes has directly affected her mother, brother, daughter, sister and niece.

"My brother, 'Chigger' Buchanan died at age 40 of the disease­he went into a diabetic coma and didn't come out of it," Todd said.

More than 350,000 North Carolinians have diabetes, a disease that affects the body's ability to produce or respond properly to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. Diabetes can lead to complications like blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and foot and leg amputations.

Many people, including Todd's co-workers at Allison's Chevrolet-Jeep, have told her what a hero she is to take on this marathon.

"But I'm not the strong one, the one to be commended," said Todd, who doesn't like to draw attention to herself.

"My mother, Myrtle Buchanan; my sister, Rachel Cappes; my daughter, Lana Lambert; and my niece...they are the strong ones because I see the daily struggle they have battling diabetes."

"Nothing great has even been achieved without sacrifice, commitment and hard work. The same is true for finding a cure for diabetes. When a cure for the disease is found, I can say that my participation in Team Diabetes did make a difference," believes Todd, Allison's parts manager for the past four years.

Like Todd, her 18 teammates all have a personal involvement with diabetes.

"A couple of them even have diabetes themselves so they really have to control their sugar," Todd said.

Two years ago Todd, a heavy smoker, quit. "When I craved a cigarette I'd get up and do something like climb the courthouse steps," she said.

Todd has always been a walker, but now she's training intensively, even in bone-chilling 20-degree temperatures and heavy downpours of rain.

On the weekends she and her teammates work out with a personal trainer in Greenville, S.C.

"Some Saturdays we will walk 12 miles, then the next week he might drop us back to 10," said Todd, who rises at 5 a.m. to prepare for the all-day drill. "I might wake up and think how easy it would be just to roll over and go back to sleep. But I thrive on their camaraderie and I find myself needing to feel that team spirit so I always get up and go, no matter what," said Todd.

"Our trainer told us when we get to Hawaii it will be easy to get caught up in all the excitement and push really hard at the first. But those last six miles are a killer, he said.

"He joked, 'If you are doing this for a trip to Hawaii, forget about it. You are in for a hard road,'" Todd said.

Participants have nine hours to finish the 26.2 miles. Some of her teammates will be running; others like Todd will walk.

"My goal is to finish in eight hours," said Todd, who has never participated in a marathon before, and never raised money before.

"I'm committed to raising at least $10,000 to help prevent and cure diabetes I'm convinced that one day there will be a cure and I want to be part of this life-saving discovery. So I'm really counting on my friends, family, co-workers and people in the community to help me out," said Todd.

For more information, call Todd at 586-5333.

Back to Archive: 03/21/02.