Good Evening Everyone!I first want to apologize for not posting last night, but I went from the party at
Lake Farley to Pizza Hut, to bed--- I was pretty drained after the wonderful day's festivities.WOW...can you all believe it??!! Nolan and I did complete our 429 mile journey across the state of South Dakota in just 14 days, with the best day (weather wise) saved for last! I think the big guy upstairs was looking out for us since we had to battle through some very trying days in order to finish our journey on a beautiful day- The many prayers that went our way must have helped and we want to thank every one of you for following our chronicles over 14 days...
I honestly don't know where to begin on this posting, since it is a bitter-sweet moment for me. I am elated to have been able to complete such a monumental feat, but I am also very sad to be done in the respect that I love to post my thoughts and insights as I have over these past 2 weeks of my life. I know I may never have the same opportunity to do something so AWESOME, but who knows---for some reason I think Nolan and I will join forces for many other adventures down the road...and hope you all will feel compelled to follow us again-
I want to thank Keith and Diane Grabow once again for their selflessness and generosity for allowing us to stay at their home. You are wonderful people and we are proud to consider your family as a part of ours now. THANKS!We slept in on our last day and that felt great not having
to wake up at 3:30am. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Millstone and set out for the radio station (KMSD) and were on air for 22 minutes! VERY COOL--- My family was there (Mom, Erin, Shawn & my wife GI Joni), along with Roger Anderson, Don Zwart, Todd Grabow, Dave Fischer, and Heather Himler!! We hope a lot of you heard the broadcast, and if not, I will try to get the file uploaded to this website for you to listen to.
After the radio station, we headed to the courthouse where we met up with Chamber of Commerce Reps that presented us with a huge basket of goodies and that was GREATLY APPRECIATED- It was like receiving a royal treatment...THANK YOU for making us feel so welcome in Milbank.
We left from there to begin our remaining 13 miles into the town of Ortonville. We were well received by everyone in the town, some of whom stood outside their stores and cheered us on and clapped as we passed by. HOW COOL... We had the Counter Drug folks fly a helicopter to show Army Guard Support and that was extremely AWESOME. I could see Bob Weaver waving out his window---THANKS guys!
Our family & friends ran and walked with us the whole way and that meant a lot to both Nolan and I as we concluded our quest. We stopped a lot and took pictures, video, and listened to a few stories...it just didn't seem possible that WE WERE ALMOST DONE! I kept thinking to myself--- "What the heck am I gonna do after this?" I kept having to force myself to refocus, however, on the moment and enjoying every bit of what was unfolding before my very own eyes!!
As we made it across the Minnesota border, we stopped to take some pictures by a sign that said; "Welcome to Minnesota". We were not quite done, despite having crossed the border. We still needed to go over 1 mile into the downtown area of Ortonville and ended at the park 1 block off of mainstreet. I remember running pretty fast down the street and I looked at Nolan smiling as we drew nearer and nearer to the end...and then I looked down at my Garmin and was shocked to find out that we were now running a 7:09 minute per mile pace! All of those aches and pains did not exist at that moment---or at least the adrenaline masked them because I felt like a champion at that moment in time!
As the last 200 yards down to the lake approached (signaling our ending of the 429 mile journey)
I looked over to Nolan and said: "Hey, anytime you want to do something crazy like this again I would be honored to do it with you anytime, anywhere". He nodded and at that moment I knew that Nolan and I would forever be great friends, adventurers, and champions for the fight against cancer!! He and I have a friendship and understanding unlike no other--- THANK YOU NOLAN for sharing that incredible journey and unforgettable experience with me!!! I am forever grateful to have met you...
I never realized that I had such a large family...every family we had the privilege to stay with (including their immediate family & friends) is now being added to the family tree! HOLY COW- What the heck am I gonna do for Birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, and all the other holidays? (It should be fun especially when it comes to story time cause all I have to do is share stories about Uncle Wally---and the seeing eyed gopher called shorty (that only had one eye), or "Peetie" Nolan's pet pheasant I caught sleeping in the ditch, or ---well I can't share them all right now, or I will spoil the surprise when it comes to the holidays!!I must admit that I never thought "Chemo Is Harder" would blossom into the incredible experience that it has! That is because of each and every one of you that has supported us along the way- Words cannot describe our gratitude for your generosity along our quest to spread awareness that guys like us are trying to help find a cure for all CANCERS--- We also know now that any one of you out there can do ANYTHING you set your mind to...ANYTHING.
Yesterday was UNBELIEVABLE in every respect. Nolan and I had many family members and friends that took time out of their busy lives to spend a very special day in ours. THANK YOU!A special THANKS goes out to Todd Grabow, who made everything in Milbank possible!!! I cannot say enough about the kind of guy you are Todd, and can never repay you for what you did for me and Nolan. The massages were incredible and every detail was well thought out and flawlessly executed! YOU DA MAN---
I also want to send a THANKS to my other great friends, Don Zwart and Dave Fischer, who also took personal time off to be there for me and Nolan and for also being so instrumental in getting everything set up and taken care of for the entire Milbank finale!!! YOU GUYS ROCK! I hope you all enjoyed it like I did---and Don, THANKS for going the whole distance with me! You always said you would do a Half-Marathon with me and you did it!!! I think that will be the coolest half-marathon we do together!
We had so many folks running and walking with us and stopping us along the way on our last 13 miles to take pictures with us and give us donations and words of encouragement that it is hard to accurately describe the emotions that filled up inside. I felt
honored and very humbled to be in the presence of so many great people that it choked me up most of the way...We had a chance to be so honored and be aired on KMSD radio in the morning...and those folks are GREAT! We thank you for that experience and Nolan and I had an absolute blast being on your radio broadcast. THANK YOU-
We met the Milbank Chamber of Commerce and the Ortonville Chamber of Commerce members and were so graciously presented with gift baskets of cheeses, sauces, jellies, and cookies---how COOL IS THAT?! THANK YOU for your wonderful support and for welcoming Nolan and I on your Marquee!!! I have never seen my name in lights before and it felt pretty cool!! It was an honor and very humbling.
Nolan also got a huge surprise when his Fiance Kaylee, and her dad, Doug drove over 900 miles to see Nolan complete his journey...it was quite the moment to see those two reunite!! What a great couple and you could tell by Nolan's surprise and jubilation that they have a very loving relationship. Great to see you Kaylee and Doug- THANKS for coming so far to be with us!A special THANKS to my sisters (Tara & Erin) and my Mom, Theresa for being here too. They came with
Patrick, Spencer, Ashley & Shawn too...I was happy 
to see them all. My Uncle Clair, Aunt Joy, and Cousin Dan (who's
birthday was yesterday) also came and I love them dearly! My brother-in-law (Dave Trautman) came with his two sons (Tyler & Dawson) and Jill was unfortunately unable to attend cause she was in Montana for a 55 mile endurance race with her horse--- LOVE THOSE TRAUTMANS! One of my best buds ever, Matt McLeod and his wife Michelle drove out from Rapid City to spend their time with me and celebrate the 429 mile journey. That was GREAT of them to be there and of 
course much
appreciated!!! THANKS to you both Matt & Michelle. Also, my great friend Heather Himler (Giesen), who lives in Chicago, came up to run the remaining 13 miles with me and Nolan. Heather just completed the Boston Marathon and not only is she the sweetest person, but she is also a great inspiration to me and my running! Thanks so much Heather!!! You Rock---I'll run with you anytime...if you slow down for me. (Ha Ha)
I could honestly go on all day...I do want to also thank the Army National Guard for their UNBELIEVABLE support with the signs, tents, food, drink, and grill to make the party happen. The Recruiting Force Kicks Butt--- Thanks MAJ Jacobson, MAJ Oster, Tim Vogl for helping pull this thing off. Hooah! The troops from Milbank are AWESOME!!! Thanks 742nd Transportation Company for bringing out your "Big Rig" and
honking at us while we ran. COOL.
THANKS to Roger Anderson for coming out to chronicle part of our journey and taking time to capture our "story". He made me a promise he would come out and he did...I can't thank you enough Roger, but I want you to know that your being out there in the rain, wind, and sunshine meant more than you know!!
Nolan and I would like to also THANK each one of our SPONSORS during this journey!! Without each of them we could not have done this-
-- To B.O.B, we loved the high-performance three wheeled strollers that allowed us to push everything we needed over a two week period across the state. Your product is truly the FINEST out there and impressed a lot of people when they saw what we were doing with them.
-- To Titanium Goat, your tents were a blessing when it came time to use them to get out of the elements and provide a place of sanctity. The lightweight, rugged design and compact nature of the tent is amazing!
-- To Lori Weisz at Interstate Promotions, we thank you for your patience and determination to help us with our products such as the bandanas, hats, and wonderful fliers that you helped me design. People loved them and I know they will continue to be a huge hit well into the future!
-- To John Geiman, our web host and owner of Black Hills Web Hosting, thanks so much for helping us design such a COOL and AWESOME website for others to follow our progress and thoughts as we made our journey across the state. I hope we continue to do great things with our website and look forward to continually working with you! You da MAN!!!
-- To Wendy, from Newton Running, THANKS so much for your incredible support and I thought of you DAD Jerry often on the run! It was our NEWTON shoes that helped us get across 429 miles of road in just 14 days. I will always be your BIGGEST ADVOCATE of Newton Running and hope we continue to grow the Newton Running & Chemo Is Harder TEAM. I see HUGE promise here and look forward to your continued support!!!!
A Special THANKS go out to my Mother-In-Law Mary Jo Kaup for taking countless pictures and most of these posted in this blog are from her...I appreciate all of your support and generosity in helping Nolan and I during our journey!!! I LOVE YOU-
Some thoughts to share with you- These come from the many miles I spent on the road and wanted to make sure I captured them down somewhere for others to use if they so choose...
DREAM BIG and COMMIT yourself absolutely to your goals---and trust me, it will happen! I implore each of you to take a moment when you can and do me and Nolan a favor-
Take time this weekend (I know it's Mother's Day tomorrow---so HAPPY Mother's Day to every Mom out there, may it be a special time to be with your loved ones...and all you sons out there---you better do something REALLY NICE for your MOM, cause she deserves it!!!!!!! ) to write out some of your goals on paper. That's right, WRITE THEM DOWN. That will be the first step toward accomplishing something important in your life. Next, prioritize that list and put down time frames of when you wish to complete them by...YES, put an actual date of when you want that goal to be completed. You are doing that, just as Nolan and I did for this journey across the state. It will force you to commit to those goals. Next, you have to visit those goals every day...EVERY DAY. This will make you think of WHY and HOW you are going to accomplish what is important to you. Finally, TELL AS MANY PEOPLE about your intentions as you can!! WHY???!! you ask...........that is to force your committal. It is much harder to quit something if a lot of people know that you are going to do. If you tell no one---who will know if you tried and failed, or if you gave up?? But, if you tell people about it, your WORD IS YOUR BOND. That is the one thing you have that no one can take away from you...
So go out there and DARE TO DREAM & THINK BIG! And COMMIT TODAY---go do something GREAT TOMORROW! I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Take care for now, I will keep updating this website as to how things are going for Chemo Is Harder and the periodic progress of the DVD and book. Understand that the book will take quite some time, but it will happen. I will also let you know when and what we are doing next. Whether it is a race, a public gathering, expo...whatever the case may be so anyone interested can be involved. Nolan and I will continue to spread the awareness about cancer and the need for more research efforts. We hope you join us in our continued effort!!!
Brendan~
