You may have heard of Julie Weiss (MarathonGoddess.com). In 2012, she ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks! She’s currently running 11 races in 11 months on a journey called Strive to Survive to bring awareness and shine a light on the fact that the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 11%. Julie is also inspiring so many and doing so much for the disease that took her dad. Her journey will culminate at the 2023 Los Angeles Marathon which will be Julie’s 115th lifetime marathon. So far, Julie has raised nearly 1 million dollars!!!! Her motto is, ""Strive to Survive" and of course "We got this"

 

Julie generated considerable pancreatic cancer awareness through high profile media attention as a TEDX speaker, CNN, The TODAY Show, the Los Angeles Times. O Magazine and many other outlets. She is also one of seven featured runners in the inspiring documentary Spirit of the Marathon II. Following the death of her father, her biggest fan, from Pancreatic Cancer, she was feeling determined to make a difference. Running gave her the answer. Julie decided to turn her passion into a purpose and embarked on this incredible endeavor to raise hope, money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer, the 3rd leading cause of cancer death in the United States, also the lowest funded for research.

 

My father, Maurice Weiss, was my biggest fan. He was brilliant and talented. A child prodigy on the drums, he was the leader of a big band, played jazz, he also had a dixieland band. He played for President Clinton and many other prominent events. He played drums, trumpet, and piano. He was also a successful stockbroker and had his own firm at one time. Later in his 70's he became an actor and landed a national commercial.  His father, Sammy Weiss, who also passed from pancreatic cancer, was a drummer on the Jack Benny show. My children were his greatest joys. He was full of life, he really LIVED it, always taking us on adventures around the world. He was also very philanthropic.  He traveled to Australia in the summer of 2010 and complained of being tired. He came home and had many tests done, but none could reveal the cancer. That is the tragedy of pancreatic cancer.  It’s very hard to detect. They dismissed it as acid reflux, only later to do a CT scan and find that his body was riddled with tumors and there was nothing the doctors could do. I was training to qualify for the Boston Marathon and told him to hold on, he was going to come with me, but passed away just 35 days later. Here is a link to a video that documents some of this story. 

 

I miss him every day.  Now when I run my marathons, I always dedicate them to my Dad and people who are affected by pancreatic cancer. Running for others makes the journey so much more meaningful, because it's so much bigger than yourself.

 

I chose the name Marathon Goddess but, its true meaning is that it is not about me, it’s a name to encourage and inspire others to embrace what they love to do and let it shine!

 

Part of my mission is to help people embrace whatever it is they want to do or become. I believe this can help in all areas of our lives, even when you are on a mission to overcome cancer.  When your mission is to crush cancer, you can say I am a CANCER CRUSHER!  It’s a mindset shift. To really embrace that, and feel what you are becoming can be motivating and empowering, possibly even healing. Instead of saying I'm going to get healthy, you can say I am a HEALTH WARRIOR!! Even with surviving cancer, you can change that to, I AM A CANCER SURVIVOR! Feel it, be it, believe it, and become it. Our minds are more powerful than we know. 

 

Thinking about yourself as a SURVIVOR or a WARRIOR and truly embracing that is uplifting. I believe it can raise your frequency, which may even allow for greater healing.