Marathon Mom

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WOOLRICH - Laura Gscheidle has about 15 million reasons to run in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday.

She's never met any of them, and she likely never will.

Still, they've changed the way she looks at her privileged life here in the United States. In return, she hopes to change their lives.

The stay-at-home mother of three decided to start training for the 26.2-mile race after watching her husband, Andrew, organize an AIDS caregiver kit drive in January for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to helping children all over the world. His efforts to collect latex gloves, soap, Vasoline, cotton balls, flashlights, batteries, notebooks and pens all everyday items in the U.S. that could very well save the life of an African suffering from AIDS helped her come to a greater understanding of their plight.

"That really impacted me. Honestly, up until then, I didn't really give a lot of thought to people around the world suffering from AIDS. I knew there was an AIDS crisis in Africa. I just didn't give a lot of thought to it. And if I did, it was really with little compassion, because I figured it was preventable," Laura said.

"No one wants to admit they're not feeling compassionate toward people. But I had to when my husband told me the majority of people affected by the AIDS crisis are children and their mothers, who were faithful. Because their partners weren't faithful, they're now suffering."

Those thoughts lingered in the back of her mind when she opened an e-mail from World Vision in February, calling for volunteers to raise money to help those children by running the Chicago marathon.

"I was struck with suddenly feeling compassion for people in Africa who are dealing with AIDS directly and the affects of that. And I thought, 'Wow, running a marathon would be the hardest thing I could possibly do, physically,'" she said.

It was then and there she made her decision to help the 15 million children worldwide who have been orphaned by HIV and AIDS, according to World Vision statistics.

It didn't matter that she had never before run more than three and a half miles at one time, or that it had been more than three years since she had last laced up her running shoes.

She didn't let thoughts of nine years ago discourage her, when she started training to run a 5K race and gave up after two months. This time, she would see it through for the children.

She first prepared by making sure she was physically fit, at age 36, to participate in such a grueling event. She saw her family doctor, an orthopedic surgeon and physical trainers and expected them all to laugh in her face. Instead, she received nothing less than a clean bill of health and lots of moral support.

Next she did her homework, reading books on running and talking to a friend in Thailand who had run a marathon before. After purchasing the gear she needed, she joined Team World Vision, along with about 1,000 other runners. As a member of Team WV, she set her fundraising goal early on to raise $2,000 in donations and find sponsors for three children.

Her very first day back in her running shoes was the first Sunday in April, a day on which she ran only one mile.

"The whole time I was like, 'What am I doing? What am I thinking? Can I do this?'" she said.

She soon received her answer, when she ran the Spring Into Summer 5K Run in Montoursville at the end of May. It was only the second 5K she had ever done, but she was quite proud that she averaged an 11-minute mile during the race. That time set her up to run the marathon in about five hours, assuming she could stay consistent or even improve her endurance.

Her training officially began June 9, with a 10-week program suggested by Team WV leaders. She mixed hikes and family bike rides on rails-to-trails with her almost daily runs, which gradually grew longer as the summer stretched on. She struggled a bit as those runs became as long as 10, 13 and 15 miles, but she never lost sight of her purpose.

"On the days when I'm feeling tired and dragging and maybe just want to stop, it's thinking about the children and the people in Africa who are suffering because they don't have access to clean water or proper health care or a sound education. I think about those people and it keeps me going," said Laura.

Her mission took on even more depth when she learned most of the donations she was raising would be going to the African country of Zambia. According to UNICEF, about 920,000 Zambian people live with HIV or AIDS and 630,000 Zambian children are orphaned from the disease.

Other UNICEF statistics say 86 percent of the country's population lives below the poverty line, 50 percent are unemployed and only 40 percent have access to clean water.

"Those are staggering statistics. When you think about the lack of clean water, that impacts everything healthcare, education, even economics," Laura said.

To draw more attention to the water crisis, she handed out empty Aqua-V (a generic form of Vitamin Water) bottles at her church, Emmanual Community Church in South Avis, for her fellow congregation members to help her raise funds.

"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be neat if people took these Aqua-V bottles and fill them up with loose change?' It's just such a good reminder of all we have that we take for granted, like a water aisle in the grocery store," said Laura.

The family has been a huge help to her fundraising efforts. Andrew recently started teaching their two sons, 11-year-old Aidan and 8-year-old Liam, about personal finances. Learning by separating their money into separate spending, saving and sharing accounts, both boys decided to donate the entire contents of their sharing accounts to their mom's campaign a total of almost $74, to be exact.

"It's just been so neat," said Laura.

Three-year-old Maeve may not have been able to contribute financially, but she's served as a constant support for her mother.

Andrew also made informational cards about Zambia, which have been placed in area business and public places such as libraries.

Seeing how her home-schooled children were eager to give, Laura extended a challenge to all the kids at the Jersey Shore Homeschool Co-Op. She asked them to collect their own money, not their parents, and turned it into a contest between boys and girls. The challenge ends Nov. 21, and the girls are winning so far, she said.

Most of Laura's donations have come in on her fundraising Web site, though www.firstgiving.com/runningforjesus/ where she can continue to receive donations until Dec. 31. To date, she has raised $2,120, though $420 of that total comes from a couple who agreed to sponsor Mussa, a child from Tanzania, for a year. For $35 a month, they will provide clean water, nutritious food, educational opportunities, spiritual nurturing, AIDS prevention healthcare, care for sick or dying parents and HIV/AIDS counseling for Mussa.

"Their idea isn't just to help people so that they can continue needing help, but to help people learn how to be self-sufficient," she said.

Though she's still about $300 and two child sponsors shy of reaching her goal, Laura said she feels a great sense of accomplishment both for her physical accomplishments in training and for raising as much as she has so far.

"It feels so great to have so many people get behind a great cause like this, especially during these days when people could choose to live in fear over the economic climate. Instead, they are still giving."