Fund Raiser for Pancreatic Cancer Research

This past weekend, Judy and I went home to join with Mike Noble and his extended family in a fund raiser for pancreatic cancer research. Mike is not only fighting his battle but is also doing whatever he can to raise funds and awareness for future generations who may have to combat this dreaded disease.
Mike's team raised more than $35000 for this event. The event itself raised about $80000, so the Nobles brought in almost half of that. Thanks to our friend, Bob Coates, for dropping by the starting line to offer his support.

Judy and I thank those of you who donated for this "Noble" cause. Follow this link if you'd like to donate.

Mike was really surprised when we showed up at his house the night before the event. It was a no-brainer for us as we were already planning to come home to celebrate the end of his treatment and his 59th birthday. Walking in the fund raiser was icing on the cake.
It was a great day. What a turnout in support for Mike. He had the largest contingent of any team. Of course, he also had the largest family of any other team.

Here is the team photo

There was a 10K run, a 5K run and a 5K walk. Some of the Noble clan decided to do the 10K run. Here are a few photos of their efforts.
Matt after completing his run

Here's Mike cheering Emily on...

Kyle has us in his rearview mirror

Here's Hillary and friends about to cross the finish line

This walk was terrific. Not only were we raising money for a great cause, but we got to chat and schmooze with friends and relatives along the way. Mike was in great form (having run 2 miles earlier in the week) and looked great crossing the finish line.
Matt joins his dad as Mike crosses the Finish Line

Not to be outdone, here comes Pam

Judy and Jim had a great time chatting along the way

And Uncle Marc came flying across the Finish Line

A number of members of the Nobles team did well in the running events. Here are Kyle, Emily and Matt who all won medals for having pretty good times within their species.

Afterwards, we all went to Pizzeria Uno for a little after-the-fact carbo loading. Mike gave a very warm and heart-felt speech thanking us all for participating. When Mike expressed his gratitude to us for helping out, someone yelled out, "It's because we love you." That summed it up for all of us who took part in this day. The last official act of the day was to celebrate a couple of birthdays with some gluten-free cake.

Then it was back on the plane for our return trip to Sedona for the last three weeks of this year's adventure.