Pasta with a side of Inspiration!

You all know the tradition of "carbo-loading" before a big race? Well, if you're thinking of this, then that's not quite it:




I won't go into a big rant about what carbo-loading actually is (for that, you can read this great article from Runners World), but I will share with you about my incredible evening of inspiration and carbohydrates at the Team Challenge Pasta Party on Saturday night before the big day!



The Team Pasta Party is a tradition for Team Challenge where all participants and guests get together the night before each race to, well, eat pasta! This year at the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon there were over 1000 guests at the Team Challenge pasta party - the scene was insane!

Alicia, some of our TCNE mentors, and Coach Dave were part of the greeting crew!

It was so inspiring to see how many people stood when they asked how many people were running (over 600!), how many people had run multiple years, and how many people in the crowd were IBD patients. I was proud to be able to stand as a runner, and to have Nick stand beside me when they asked about patients.

One of the evening's speakers was Saskia Madison, wife of former Miami Dolphin Sam Madison, who suffers from both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (you can see a video of her talking about Team Challenge on NBC 6). After 11 years of dealing with IBD on her own and with her family, Saskia heard about Team Challenge and the CCFA and decided to step out of her shell, join Team Challenge, and publicly share her story of living with IBD.



Her talk was moving, truthful, and really hit home for everyone in the crowd. I think I found myself almost in tears several times. She talked about the pain and embarrassment related to having Crohn's and colitis, as well as the struggles she had having children and taking care of her family with severe symptoms.

Thank you, Saskia, for sharing your story and helping to inspire us to continue to move forward, and to continue our work raising money and awareness for the cause!

The other speaker for the evening was Michael Ginsberg of Team Challenge Austin. Michael shared his sometimes hilarious, sometimes graphic, and altogether inspiring story of overcoming Hodgkin's lymphoma only to find he also was suffering from Crohn's disease. Below is the video of his speech that made me feel so proud to be able to run with Team Challenge in Nick's honor:



We also found out at the pasta party that Team New England (Boston Strong!) was the region to raise the most money out of all state/regional teams - over $400,000! Altogether, Team Challenge raised $2.4 million to help fund research for improved treatment and a cure for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. That means that each mile we run this weekend will be worth over $180,00 for a cure!

Team New England had the top fundraiser in the country!

And, of course, at the Pasta Party - we ate! I didn't take any pictures of the food as I am usually wont to do, but I can tell you it was delicious! For us vegans, there was quinoa pasta with marinara sauce, an amazing and loaded salad bar, some delicious rolls, and sweet tea. I also stocked up on bananas for post-race :)

After all the eating, laughing, crying, and stands of solidarity, it was time to return to our buses to bring us back to the hotel.

Exhausted and armed with more food for thought, we returned for our team meeting where we received our bib numbers and our Boston Strong ribbons for race day :)

Bib #3516

I've never been so prouder to be part of a team, although tomorrow I think will be even better :) I'm off to bed now as we have an early start tomorrow (breakfast at 4:30am!). But I can't even tell you how excited, energized, and inspired I feel right now!

Running Boston strong,
ashley