RAMMS 2020: Virtually Unstoppable
A difficult 2020, but we managed to be Virtually Unstoppable!
Planning for the 2020 Run A Myelin My Shoes (RAMMS) team started the day after the Richmond Marathon on November 16, 2019. Well… maybe it was more like two weeks after the marathon. We were pretty spent after the hard marathon effort and my brain simply takes a really long time to recover nowadays!
Gary Pinder and I spent about a month researching 2020 autumn races. We wanted to accommodate many levels of ability. We looked at data like time limits, multiple distance options, elevation profiles, and average race day temperatures. After narrowing down the choices to three events, we reached out to the race organizers with specific questions that are important to people living with symptoms like balance issues. “Are trekking poles allowed?” and “Are there uneven surfaces on the course like gravel roads or dirt trails?” We also asked if they had incentives like a group discount, free team tent space, and promotion of the team through their media outlets. The Monumental Indianapolis Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K came out on top, and even pledged $10 to the MS Society for each Indy registration. We were set to go and excited for our event.
By springtime, as the world started to slowly shut down and races were being cancelled, we made the heartbreaking decision in May to make RAMMS all virtual. That was exceedingly difficult because at the time we really did not know how bad this pandemic was going to be. Almost all of our teammates with MS are on disease modifying therapies. The Indianapolis organizers completely understood our concerns and graciously processed full refunds to teammates who had already registered. As it turns out, the organizers eventually cancelled their in-person event like everyone else. So, that tough decision to go virtual back in May turned out to be the right one after all.
RAMMS 5 for 5
As part of our Finish MS fundraising effort for the National MS Society, we started the RAMMS 5 for 5 virtual races. Every other week from March 29 to October 17, we held a virtual 5K with a $5 donation per race to our team fundraising page.
We had themes like Crazy Socks, Kick MS Butt and Day-Glo that added a fun element to RAMMS 5 for 5, plus it added colorful pictures for our private Facebook page. In total, we logged 1,071.24 miles and raised over $1,250. More importantly, our virtual events kept us active, whether it was running, walking, cycling, or swimming. And we remained connected as a team, reaching 21 states + DC, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy and South Africa.
Carrie Klypchak is a professor at Texas A&M University – Commerce. Every year she leads a group of Theatre students to participate in a local 5K charity race. Her purpose is like a lesson plan for life: exercise for good health and give back to the community. But because of COVID-19, Carrie and her students could not meet. Instead, Carrie and the TAMUC Theater Department sponsored a group of students to participate in a RAMMS 5 for 5. Veterans, as well as newbies, on Carrie’s team posted pictures and videos of themselves on their theatre callboard. They were so proud of their accomplishments and that was very special for Carrie to see. Carrie is very open about her MS and does not mask her struggles. She hopes her students sees her strength and unwavering fight as another life lesson that they can also persevere and face whatever hard things life throws their way.
Mini-RAMMS Teams
Despite having twice monthly RAMMS 5 for 5 events, keeping motivation high for running a virtual racing is hard, particularly longer distances like a half marathon or marathon. Enthusiasm can be lacking without the excitement of a large starting line, new sights to see along the race course, or even the age grouper in front of you that you want to beat!
Our huge global RAMMS virtual event was the same weekend Indianapolis would have been, November 7-8, 2020. To help generate enthusiasm, several teammates created their own mini-RAMMS teams.
Rosemarie Collopy’s 60th birthday corresponded with our big event weekend. She solicited friends to donate to our Finish MS page in lieu of a birthday gift and her goal was to recruit 60 friends to exercise in honor of her birthday. RAMMS motivated her to walk daily and she wanted to pay it forward by inspiring others. The outpouring was impressive. Rosemarie’s friends ran, walked, biked, swam and kayaked. Unique activities included her niece doing an extensive work out on an aerial ring and a friend holding a spontaneous dance party with her daughter. Rosemarie was in awe that she was able to inspire so many people to exercise.
Nora Gocking, who ran her first marathon with the team in Detroit 2018, decided to do something for her 5th MS diagnosis anniversary. It was not just about surviving five years of MS, but it was a celebration of the way she and her husband Brian improved their overall well-being through wholesome eating and exercising.
Nora’s mantra, and namesake of her blog, is “Not Today, MS.” She created her own 5K and sold special “Not Today, MS” shirts. The proceeds went to our Finish MS fundraiser. Nora was surprised by the flood of people all over the country who wanted to support her.
Michele M. from Virginia motivated a group of friends to pledge miles that totaled 200, which is the width of the state of Virginia. She wanted to share our team’s enthusiasm with her this family and friends and to encourage exercise during the pandemic. Not only did they accomplish the goal together (running separately due to the pandemic), but Michele was humbled by the support. Her mini-RAMMS team raised over $1,200 to end MS and that was wonderful icing on the cake.
And no doubt, all of Michele’s friends were more than happy to support their MS Warrior!
MS Warrior Ryan Piner’s goal is to run 50 marathons by 50 years old. With all the race cancellations in 2020, Ryan saw his chances diminishing. Rather than lamenting over it, he took the bull by the horns and came up with his own campaign called, “Piner-Thon.” He fundraised for the team and promoted two virtual events, one in October and one in November, to all his friends and colleagues. He sweetened the deal by printing “Piner-Thon” shirts, medals and bibs for his donors. He was one of the highest fundraisers for Finish MS with over $3,300 collected.
Other teammates across the US made a huge effort to recruit virtual teammates and collect donations up until the day before our big event weekend. One teammate in Ohio mapped out routes from 3.5 miles to half marathon around her neighborhood and invited friends to celebrate with her afterwards with post-race goodies and Bloody Mary’s in her backyard (while wearing masks!).
Another MS Warrior ran the virtual Boston Marathon and realized a virtual marathon is not too terribly bad. So, he pledged to run another marathon the following weekend and raised over $2,700 in one week for our fundraiser!
Running, Walking, Paddling, Yoga, Cycling, Rock Wall Climbing….
Besides all of the marathons, half marathons, 10Ks and 5Ks that teammates ran and walked for our big event in November, we had myriad new sports that proved Run A Myelin My Shoes is more than just lacing up a pair of runners!
Tim Salmon is a surfer and long-distance paddleboarder. He has been living with MS since 2005 and the Pacific Ocean is his therapy. Tim took out his prone paddleboard during treacherous king tide conditions in San Diego and paddled 5 miles for the team.
Anita Mehta Iyer normally partakes in 5K walks with her husband around the beautiful parks and waterfront of Singapore. However, due to lockdown, Anita did a yoga session at home instead. She is a great proponent of yoga and meditation. These modalities help her cope with MS and you can read more about her story here.
MS Warrior Maureen Kenney and her husband Brian clipped into their racing bikes and cycled 28.32 miles along the trails of Buffalo. The original plan was to cycle the marathon distance, but they tacked on extra miles and dedicated them to team members who were recovering from COVID-19.
Thuasne USA, not only sponsored our team shirts for the second year in a row, but they also promoted RAMMS in California and throughout Europe. Over 100 Thuasne employees joined the team as our MS Support Heroes. The California headquarters used the opportunity as a team-building exercise (pun intended) and charted out 3K walking and 5K running routes, then had a massive pizza celebration afterwards. Our MS Support Heroes in Slovakia were able to run together and make a fun afternoon of it, but the other European teammates did individual events due to lockdowns. There were a lot of runners, walkers and cyclists, but other solo sports included kitesurfing, SUP and rock wall climbing. Furthermore, some recruited camaraderie of dogs, donkeys and a horse to keep them company
Worldwide Recruiting
The Japan MS Society has always been by our side since the inception of RAMMS in 2018 (learn more here). For the virtual RAMMS 2020, we reached out to other MS organizations worldwide and invited them to join us. With the help of Google Translate, we sent out 87 emails and Facebook messages in their native languages. I am not certain of the accuracy of the translations, but the MS Societies in Portugal and Philippines replied and joined us for RAMMS 2020! It is a kinship that I hope will inspire other organizations to join the team!
By the Numbers
Despite the lack of an in-person event, our team managed to expand for the third year in a row!
375 Teammates: 110 MS Warriors and 265 MS Support Heroes
6 continents: Australasia, Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America
19 countries: Australia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Austria, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland,
Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, UK, Argentina, Canada and USA
42 states plus DC: AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, MT, NE, NH, NV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH,
OK, OR, PA, RI, SD, TN,TX, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY
3 Canadian provinces: AB, NB, ON
Worldwide MS organizations that promoted RAMMS: Japan, Philippines, Portugal and USA
We were the number one fundraising team for Finish MS with a total of $33,273.20.
Coming up next…
We are going to try for the Indianapolis Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K on November 6, 2021, in addition to our global virtual team. We hope to represent all 50 states, add more countries, and have more companies promote our team and join us the same way Thuasne did.
We hope you are inspired to join this amazing team in 2021! Please contact us at runamyelinmyshoes@gmail.com with any questions.