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A Year in Review - Triathlete for a Cure

by on ‎07-11-2011 07:03 PM

Last year’s opportunity to be on QVC during Super Saturday was a jump start to a great year.  The commentary by Kelli Ripa and the large viewing audience helped my 50x50x100 campaign gain traction and momentum.  Diagnosed at age 42 with Stage III ovarian cancer, I committed to use the sport of triathlon to save other’s lives.  To that end, in 2009 I stated I would compete in 50 triathlons in all 50 states by age 50 (by 2013) to raise $100,000 for ovarian cancer research and OCRF and a campaign was born.  I race for women battling this disease, women who have lost the fight and for women yet to be diagnosed.


By the end of last season I had raced in 20 states and raised $32,000.  More important, what started out as a fund raiser turned into a grass-roots effort of educating women one by one.  I candidly share my experience so that other women may learn about signs and symptoms and early detection.   That’s the key; if detected early, ovarian cancer is 94% curable.  It just has to be caught in early stages.  From talking to one woman, I sometimes speak to groups of 500 people now.  It is amazing how the campaign has changed and what direction it is taking.  I especially like including the men in the “presentation” because I tell them, “You probably have ovaries at home to worry about”.  This may be a woman’s disease but it is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of the signs and symptoms.


Especially exciting is that I know lives are being saved. Over this past winter, I was contacted by a woman who found my blog. I use social networking via blogging, Facebook and Twitter to cast as big a net as possible.  She read about the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and was able to identify with my story.  As a result she went to her doctor and was diagnosed Stage I.  She contacted me to let me know she owed her life to something she read on my blog.  I wept and it validated everything I am doing.


Directly linked to Super Saturday, I was contacted by a triathlete in Mullica Hills, NJ after she saw my piece on last year’s show.  She asked me to come to her triathlon club, Mullica Hills Women’s Tri Club, and make a presentation.  She had lost her mother to ovarian cancer and her triathlon club had decided to fund raise for OCRF this season.  There is no such thing as a coincidence.   I visited the ladies in March and spoke to a group of nearly 200.  I challenged each woman to go home and tell five friends what they learned with a potential impact of reaching almost 1000 women. This is how my campaign works.


This year I will race in another 12 states, bringing my total to 32 by the end of the 2011 season.  My fund raising is keeping step, with my total just over $50,000 at this point.  I have logged thousands of miles so far this season, having been in Alaska, Texas, Indiana, Georgia, North Dakota, Florida and Kansas so far this summer.  Nebraska, Rhode Island, Montana, Oregon and Louisiana are still to come before the calendar turns to 2012.


While holding down three jobs to pay for this effort, my campaign is self inspired, self orchestrated and 100% self funded. I want every penny to go to OCRF and the effort to find a method of early detection.  Every penny helps and lots of $5 donations add up to one big donation.  Please consider helping this important cause by going directly to my blog and donating to OCRF.  (www.jennsommermann.blogspot.com).


Thanks to QVC for their efforts to save the lives of women, for their partnership with OCRF and for supporting me and my campaign.  It was indeed an honor to be part of Super Saturday.





 



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