Marathon helps him, 5-year-old neighbor

John Schlieper, 43, Carmel, district manager, J.C. Penney Co.

I've always been involved in sports -- football, basketball and baseball, which I played at Kent State University. But I decided I wanted to start a regular exercise routine. I really wanted to add it to my lifestyle. I have three young children, so I also wanted to set a good example for them.,

John Schlieper shows off wristbands that were part of 

fundraisers for his 5-year-old neighbor, Aidan Brown, 

who has neuroblastoma cancer. / Frank Espich / The 

Star,

Running is something I'd never done. So in June 2009, I started training on a family vacation in Key West, Fla. Shortly afterward, I signed up for this year's 500 Festival Mini-Marathon. At first, I could just run for 20 or 30 minutes, but I progressively worked my way up. I had regular checkups with doctors to prevent injuries and because I was thinking of doing a full marathon.

A co-worker who had run the Mini before did the three training series races with me. It helped both of us keep on track.

I was pretty nervous about the Mini. But it was a good event, and I was just excited about finishing. I ran it in 2 hours, 28 minutes.

I wanted to mix it up and keep my exercising more interesting. So over the summer, I competed in four sprint triathlons. I'd never done those before and had only done recreational swimming and biking. I joined the Monon Center and swam and ran there, sometimes biking from home. The swim probably was the hardest for me.

In late May, Aidan Brown, the son of our neighbors, Chris and Michelle, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma cancer days before his 5th birthday. He's a kindergartner at Orchard Park Elementary School.

I had read that the Indianapolis--- Marathon and Half Marathon on Oct. 16 was affiliated with the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation endurance training program. I decided to train for the marathon and raise money in Aidan's name.

I set a goal of $1,000. I've raised about $1,100 by asking friends and family and using the website, main.acsevents.org/go to/John.Schlieper. The organization offers support with training sessions, social events, fundraising help and a newsletter.

 Thankyou for reading

John Schlieper

(source:indystar.com)