ALPINE — David Roskelley's approach to running the Boston Marathon sounds a lot like advice for dealing with life's difficulties.
David Roskelley after completion of the Boston Marathon in April. He had a month to make arrangements, raise money and train.
Roskelley family photo |
"You just take it one step at a time and if you've done your training right you can get through it, but just keep going and think of it in little pieces," David Roskelley said. "Don't think of the whole thing as 26 miles."
Although Roskelley, an Alpine resident, previously ran in the St. George Marathon, April 17 was his first try at the Boston race — and his first time to run for a charity to support his wife.
It all started about 10 months ago when David Roskelley's wife, Lynda, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She had known something was wrong for years, but at 35, anyone would be surprised to hear the doctor's diagnosis.
Since his wife's diagnosis, David Roskelley began avidly researching MS, learning about the condition and trying to understand what steps were being taken to finding a cure.
"When something like this happens in your life, it doesn't just happen to one of you, it happens to both of you and you both go through it," David Roskelley said. "It helps to boost the other when you do stuff like this."
As David Roskelley was learning about MS, he came across an organization called the Accelerated Cure Project, which takes a different approach to finding a cure for the chronic disorder that affects the central nervous system. The project encourages scientists to collaborate in their research in an effort to prevent an overlap of information.
After contacting the ACP to find out more, David Roskelley found out about an opportunity to raise money for the organization through running the Boston Marathon. It was a little late in the game, though. He only had one month to make travel arrangements, raise money and train.
Although David Roskelley needed to raise $2,500 to qualify as a charity runner in the marathon, the Roskelleys decided to go the extra mile and raise $10,000. So, with 30 days to go, they started telling friends and neighbors about their cause, directing them to make donations through www.acceleratedcure.org.
"It's not easy asking people for money, but it was worth it," Lynda Roskelley said. "I didn't want people's pity, and I didn't want people feeling sorry for me, but once we started talking about it more and thinking it would be a really great thing, I thought there was no better way to come out with it than to tell people in this way."
The Roskelley's are a little short of their goal— they've raised about $4,000 — but they're talking about going again next year. According to Lynda Roskelley, raising awareness and reaching out to others who have MS makes it worth it.
"It's important to let people know it's okay," she said. "You can live a relatively normal and wonderful life even though you have this debilitating disease. You can't let it get the best of you, you have to move forward and have a positive attitude."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com
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