Honoring Ed Mays

I often run across inspirational stories, but this one hit me closer to home than normal. Molly, a coworker of mine, lost her father Ed Mays to pancreatic cancer in June.
This article is about her Brother-in-Law Scott LaRonde, who is serving in the military across seas and what he’s doing to help fight back against Cancer.

US Troops In Iraq plan bike ride, shadowing LiveStrong events in Austin; Army major with central Texas roots organized events to honor his father-in-law who died of cancer.
By: Pamela LeBlanc (American-Statesman Staff)

On Oct. 25, a sea of cyclists will roll through the Texas Hill Country, chugging up hills and spinning past cow pastures as they raise money for cancer research and survivorship programs.
Next weekend, more than 7,400 miles away, a much smaller group of cyclists will wind its way through hot, dusty and heavily secured streets at Victory Base Camp in Baghdad with the same goal in mind.
Maj. Scott LaRonde, a U.S. Army intelligence planner halfway through his second year-long deployment to the Middle East, organized the 50-mile "shadow" bike ride — and a separate shadow 10K run on Oct. 25 — after his father-in-law Ed Mays died of pancreatic cancer in June.
Besides honoring his wife's father and raising money for the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation, a nonprofit founded by the seven-time Tour de France champion, planning the events has helped LaRonde stay connected to his hometown.
LaRonde was born at Bergstrom Air Force Base and grew up in Dripping Springs. He still has numerous friends and family members here.
"Our kids get bigger, our communities change, our family relations change, and we miss that if we don't work really hard to stay connected. I think that having an event like this here allows all of us to stay connected to and involved with what is going on back home," he says.
LaRonde, 38, knew before he deployed in March that he'd never see Mays again. The loss has been particularly hard on his wife, who is at home in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., raising the couple's three children.
"She counts on her family for support when I'm not around. Losing that support was — and is — hard on her," LaRonde says.
He'll be thinking about Mays as he bikes 50 miles with the Victory Base Complex Cycling Club on Sunday and while wearing Mays' name on his race bib during the LiveStrong Challenge 10K Shadow Run on Oct. 25.
Some 600 soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and civilians will run alongside him, on the same weekend as the LiveStrong Challenge in Austin, which includes a bike ride and 5K run/walk. Two bands will play along the course in Iraq, and participants will compete for running shoes donated by U.S. businesses.
"For a lot of us, it's morale, it's camaraderie — a break from the norm. It's also about fitness," LaRonde says.
The Lance Armstrong Foundation shipped 300 T-shirts and a supply of race bibs for the events, and LaRonde spread the word, encouraging participants to collect donations to support programs and research dedicated to preventing cancer, ensuring access to cancer screening and care, and improving the quality of life for people affected by cancer. So far, they've raised more than $16,000.
"Many of us over here, as I have learned in the course of organizing this event, have loved ones who have had to fight cancer," he says.
It's only the second time a military group has staged a shadow of a LiveStrong event, according to foundation officials. Last year, Staff Sgt. Christine Weber organized one at her base in Afghanistan, raising $1,700.
"I think it's the ultimate display of solidarity for Scott and his group to do this at a time when they're engaged in a dangerous mission. It just shows that our shared common cause and common mission is important," says Doug Ulman, president and chief executive officer of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and a cancer survivor himself. "We're all just inspired by it."
Here in Austin, it's the 13th year for the Lance Armstrong Foundation's signature fundraiser, which has raised more than $50 million since it was first held in 1997. Last year, more than 6,700 participants in Austin raised $3.7 million at the event, which grew out of an informal race between Armstrong and his cycling buddies. The winner in those days got a bouquet of roses.
This year, about 18,000 people are expected to raise $9 million through the four LiveStrong Challenge events in Austin, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Jose, Calif.
For LaRonde, who returns to Fort Leavenworth for winter leave in December and wraps up his deployment in mid-March, shadow events like this one break the monotony of military life.
He works in a palace once used as a vacation home by Saddam Hussein, but lives in a trailer surrounded by concrete barriers. He bikes in a compound protected by soldiers. And in Baghdad, where temperatures can climb to 125 degrees, he runs at 5 a.m., before it gets too hot.
But for a few hours this month, when he's running and biking for his father-in-law, he'll be home — at least in spirit.

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Molly gave me her blessing to post this story, she’s very proud of him and his efforts. I am hoping to get her on our Relay for Life team this year!
Thanks for the story Molly, I appreciate it!
All the Love, Abby