Pat Montain's Boston Marathon Run for Carolyn

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Did you notice how easy it is to hold your head up while you read this?  Did you notice how easy it is to use your fingers to navigate your electronic device? Did you scratch an itch or brush a hair from your face?

After three years with ALS Carolyn cannot lift a finger, hand, arm, leg or foot and is left to marvel at these small but miraculous competencies.

Last year, my former Austin Rowing Club team mate, Carolyn, who was diagnosed with ALS in September 2011, was able to hold her head up and use her hands. A year later, ALS continues to take its toll.  Carolyn marvels at small but miraculous competencies that many of us take for granted, such as scratching an itch or brushing hair away from the face. Today she is in a power wheelchair and communicating through an eye gaze device, unable to do these simple acts.

Monday, April 20^th, 2014 I will once again be running the Boston Marathon.  Like last year, Carolyn and I have chosen to use my marathon training to raise money for the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI).  I raised $4,332 for ALS TDI in 2013. ALS TDI is a Cambridge-based nonprofit biotechnology company dedicated to developing effective therapeutics for ALS patients as quickly, effectively, and cost effective as possible.  ALS TDI efforts have produced dozens of potential treatments for ALS patients.  All donations will go towards funding research to find a cure for ALS. Currently ALS TDI is conducting exciting research using stem cells. Please see their blog, for an explanation of this new and exciting research: iPS: ready, set, screen?

Carolyn was diagnosed with ALS one month after competing for the Austin (Texas) Rowing Club (ARC) in the 2011 US Rowing Master’s National Regatta.  She competed in a woman’s quad and a mixed quad, placing second in both events.   In 1989 Carolyn and I represented ARC at the San Diego Crew Classic, Heart of Texas Regatta, and the US Rowing Master’s Nationals.  At the US Rowing Master’s Nationals we placed third in our age division for the women’s fours and eights.

Carolyn first learned to row while attending Smith College; double majoring in Chemistry and Physics.  She rowed for Lake Merritt RC while attending UC Berkeley to complete a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry. It was in California when she introduced herself to ARC’s women’s competitive crew at the 1988 San Diego Crew Classic.  She told us that she was coming to the University of Texas to complete her post doc and she was interested in rowing with us at ARC.   Little did we know that we were getting a great sweep rower.

I also took a roundabout route to end up in a seat on the ARC crew.  My rowing career was strongly influenced by my father, Howard Smith.  He rowed varsity heavyweights at Cornell, coached at Rutgers, cofounded the Wilmington Rowing Club (Delaware), officiated many collegiate races (he was the chief referee at the IRAs for several years), and became a FISA international referee.  I rowed for two years at Rutgers before I returned to my previous sports of cross country and track.  Several years later I had the opportunity to return to rowing at the St. Louis Rowing Club.  Relocating to Texas, I rowed at Austin and eventually ended up in the competitive boat with Carolyn.   My family moved to Boston where I was fortunate enough to row competitively with Community, Inc.

Although our paths have separated since then, our rowing ties remain.  I am thankful for this opportunity to help Carolyn and other individuals diagnosed with ALS.

ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control muscle movement. As the condition progresses, those afflicted lose the ability to voluntarily move their muscles, talk, and breath on their own.  Most die within 3-5 years after diagnosis. It affects approximately 5 out of every 100,000 people worldwide. There are no known risk factors, although some cases can be traced to a genetic inheritance.

ALS is considered an “orphan disease” because it affects too few individuals to attract investment by pharmaceutical companies. ALS TDI is a 501 © (3) nonprofit independent research center focused on developing therapeutic treatments for ALS. Their preclinical drug discovery efforts have produced dozens of potential therapeutics to slow and stop ALS.

Please give thanks that you have control of your head and hands and therefore can easily take care of that annoying itch or fly-away hair. Please consider donating to this vital cause. Maybe that itch is trying to tell you something! Your donation will accelerate ALS TDI’s discovery efforts and relieve the suffering of ALS patients and their families. Your donation to this cause is essential and greatly appreciated.  – Pat Montain

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