Until yesterday I hadn’t heard of a young lady named Taylor, but I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind since I read her story on her sister Laura’s blog, Write the Happy Ending. I originally read about Laura’s plan to run in the Thunder Road Half Marathon blindfolded in honor of her sister on Monica’s blog Run Eat Repeat. Laura and I exchanged a few comments, and I quickly found her blog. I was immediately drawn to her and her journey to bring awareness and to help find a cure for Batten disease, the disease from which her younger sister Taylor suffers.
Yesterday Laura wrote My Birthday Wish for Taylor and suggested three things her readers could do to honor her sister Taylor on her birthday:
Sign up to run for Taylor at Thunder Road on Saturday, Nov. 16, and help us turn the course purple for Taylor’s Tale.
Make a gift to Taylor’s Tale in honor of Taylor’s birthday and help support our fight against Batten disease and other rare and genetic diseases.
Run 3.1 miles – or a 5K – for Taylor on her birthday, Aug. 19. Visit our Facebook page and share a post about your run.
Today I went for a 6.2 mile run for Taylor because I wanted to wish her a doubly-happy birthday! 🙂 Taylor, here’s a description of my run…
I chose to run on the W&OD Trail because it’s a long straight trail, and I wanted to be able to bring my other senses to life, and not focus on the things that might distract me on my community trail. I drove to one of my favorite parts of the trail, parked, and then ran 6.2 miles.
I focused on looking down at the pavement in front of me and using my ears to tune into the sounds around me. I heard the roar of several large jets approaching the airport as they were preparing to land. I heard birds singing, crickets chirping, bikers announcing that they were passing on my left, and my RunKeeper app updating me on my progress.
I was even quite surprised to hear not one, but two, park service trucks approaching me and passing from behind.
My sense of smell was keen today, too. I could smell the fresh earth that was being dug up by various pieces of bright yellow John Deer earth movers, the fresh purple flowers along the trail, and the farm animals that I passed by!
I tried shutting my eyes many times when no bikers, walkers, or other runners were around me and never dared to run for more than about five seconds before opening them to make sure that I was still on my side of the trail. Despite knowing that all I needed to do was run in a straight line, I found myself pulling to the left and the center of the trail. Knowing that Taylor has run in two 5K’s and that Laura plans to run a half marathon blindfolded amazes me.
Please join me in wishing Taylor a wonderful birthday. Please go visit Laura’s blog or Taylor’s Facebook page to wish her a happy birthday, and do whatever you can to help their cause.
Happy 15th birthday, Taylor!
- Questions:
- Who plans to run in the Thunder Road marathon, half-marathon, or 5K?
- Have you ever done an exercise where you inhibited one of your senses to see how your other senses are enhanced?
- What other causes have you run for?
Happy birthday, Taylor! What a sweet thing her sister is doing for her to help raise awareness. I will be running the Thunder Road marathon, so I will have to look for Laura!
I immediately thought of you when I saw which race she would be running. Hopefully you’ll be able to say hi to Laura, and give her a high five from me!
Meagan, I’d love to meet you at Thunder Road…and if you’re not signed up to run for another group, we’d love to have you on the Taylor’s Tale team! We want to turn the course purple for Taylor, and we’re providing moisture-wicking shirts for our team members. The race organizers said they’d be happy to add team members post-registration for us, so just let me know! Either way, I appreciate your kind words and wish you the best of luck on race day!
Oh no, what a terrible story (I totally get sucked into reading these heartbreaking things). But I am so glad Taylor has a loving sister who is working on her behalf to raise awareness and money for this disease.
The thing that immediately drew me to Laura was what an amazing and loving big sister she is to Taylor!
The real hero is my sister. The courage with which she faces her disease each and every day motivates me to fight for a better tomorrow for people like her! But I appreciate your kind words and help spreading the word about Taylor’s story and Batten disease. 🙂
Hi Deb, I’m Taylor’s mom, Sharon. I just read the description of your run to Taylor. It certainly brought big, happy smiles!
Thanks for making her birthday DOUBLY special!
Awww, I’m so happy she enjoyed it! 🙂
What a wonderful thing to do! Happy birthday to Taylor!!! I’ve tried closing my eyes on a few runs and it’s always terrifying.
Thinking back, I don’t actually think I’ve ever run for a “cause” and that’s making me kind of sad.
It’s never too late!
It’s not too late! I played soccer for 20 years and always ran to stay in shape, but I didn’t enter a race until I watched Taylor finish her first 5K five years ago (I’m running Thunder Road blindfolded to celebrate the five-year anniversary of that race). Running for Taylor – and others like her – gets me out the door on rainy days and gives me an extra push on the toughest hills at the end of the long races.
Deb, thank you so much for sharing our story! This post is amazing. I loved how you not only ran 6.2 miles for Taylor on her birthday, but also took steps to experience it from her perspective. Running blindfolded has helped me treasure my gift of sight, but it has also helped me appreciate the sensory things I miss on my “normal” runs; for example, the sensation of raindrops on my skin on the night my sighted guide and I ran in a soft rain. Like you, I’ve tried running without my vision or the assistance of a guide. I closed my eyes for a few seconds during a run on the beach last month. I thought I could stay in a straight line, but I ended up with wet shoes! Again, thank you for sharing this. I’m so glad we connected and can’t wait to read more about your running adventures!
You are very welcome! I hope Taylor had a wonderful birthday!
She did – thank you! We took her out for Italian food and had ice cream cake, and friends stopped by all day with cards and gifts. The world is full of angels. p.s. I squeezed in my 3.1 miles for Taylor before dinner! 🙂
Off to check it out now! This would be a great Support Saturday post! Thanks for sharing!
Taylor’s story (Taylor’s Tale) would be a great highlight for your Support Saturday post!
I love this idea and I LOVE that you shared the story with us. Thanks!
Thanks! You can follow the story at http://www.writethehappyending.com. I publish a new post after every training run. I’m also coaching my mom to run the Thunder Road 5K for Taylor. She’s never run a race before, and she has osteoporosis. So we’re both stepping outside of our comfort zone for kids like Taylor!
Good for your mom! I’ll enjoy following your training. I signed up to follow your blog!
[…] Laura’s blog Write The Happy Ending and was instantly drawn to her and her sister Taylor. I wrote about their journey on Taylor’s 15th birthday, after I went on a 6.2-mile run in honor of Taylor. Laura’s […]
[…] was so touched by Taylor’s story that in August, on Taylor’s 15th birthday, I went on a run for Taylor to help her celebrate, and then wrote about what I saw and heard along the way. Later in the […]
[…] with Batten disease, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I took Laura up on her challenge and ran for Taylor, using my other senses to explore a 6.2-mile section of our local trail as I thought about Taylor […]