I’m running the MO Cowbell marathon on November 8 to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis research, because this disease isn’t just a cause to me. It’s my life.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that mainly affects the lungs and digestive system. It causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the body, leading to lung infections, breathing problems, and difficulty absorbing nutrients. There’s still no cure. Living with CF means daily treatments, medications, and constant attention to health in ways most people never have to think about.

At different points in my life, I’ve spent up to three hours a day doing treatments to keep my lungs as healthy as possible. I also have been diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis–Related Diabetes (CFRD), which adds another layer of daily management.
I take medications all day, every day to help my body digest food, vitamins to replace nutrients my body can’t absorb on its own, and therapies to keep my lungs as clear as possible. I’m also on a medication that treats the underlying cause of CF — something that simply didn’t exist for generations before mine. The continued research for these medications is so important because there are still many with CF who can not tolerate the medicine or their mutation has not yet been addressed.

Even with all of that, most days, feeling uncomfortable is the norm. Energy can run low faster, and a simple illness can become something much bigger.

Marathon training brings its own challenges, but with CF it also brings uncertainty. I never know when I might wake up sick and have my training completely derailed — and recovery can take a long time. Every training run carries both determination and a bit of risk. That’s the reality of pushing physical limits while managing a disease that affects your lungs.

But CF has also shaped me in ways I didn’t choose, but deeply value. It’s taught me resilience, perspective, and not to take a single good day — or breath — for granted.

Every mile represents the daily fight people with CF live with — the treatments, the setbacks, the determination to keep going anyway. I’m running for longer, healthier lives. I’m running for better treatments. I’m running for kids born with CF today who deserve an easier road than the one so many of us have walked.

Your support helps fund research, medications, and care that are changing what life with CF looks like — and bringing us closer to a future where this disease no longer defines anyone’s limits.

I’m running to add tomorrows, and the hope that one day CF will stand for
Cure Found