Running With Mr. McDreamy

My husband and I decided that I am we are going to run The Dempsey Challenge Journey for Hope 10K with Mr. McDreamy on October 8/9 this year.  The Dempsey Challenge is an annual fundraising in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine to benefit the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center.  October 8 is the run/walk 10K event, and October 9 is the cycling event.

Patrick Dempsey created the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center after his mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  The realities of his mom's cancer brought to light the importance of having access to reliable resources for patients, caregivers, and families.  Dempsey wanted to give back to the community that helped his mom through her cancer journey.  Fortunately, his mom was successfully treated and is now healthy and active.

I am not a huge, die-hard fan of Mr. McDreamy, but I have a lot of respect and admiration for Patrick Dempsey. The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing provides free services, thanks to donations made by Dempsey himself and other sources.  I admire actors/famous people who give back to the community whole-heartedly without the big publicity stunts to self-promote their image just because it's "cool."

We think that this race will be on our race calendar every year.  We will be making the big trip back to Maine in October to support the Center in memory of my husband's dad, who lost his battle to lung cancer.  He passed away before the Center was created, but we hope that our fundraising efforts in memory of him will help other families touched by cancer in the Lewiston/Auburn area.  We'd like to think he would want us to help, and what better way to remember him by running a 10K for the Center.