This is me running in my first and only marathon in Spokane, WA in October, 2006. This is me approaching mile 22, just a hundred yards or so from the bottom of the Doomsday Hill, just 50 feet from my cheering section, just 20 seconds before I would tell my wife that I could not go on, because my calf muscles hurt too much, just 25 seconds before she jogged along side me, handed me 4 ibuprofen and a bottle of Gatorade and told me that I could not quit. 

This is me just two minutes before an elderly couple passed me on my way up the Doomsday Hill. They were walking. Not race walking. They were out for a Sunday stroll.

This is me 1/4 mile before I finally reached the top of the Doomsday Hill with my friend George jogging by my side, his hand on my back as if he were afraid I would roll all the way back down to the bottom and have to climb the hill again.

This is me 20 minutes before I would finally catch up to the guy I had been chasing for 15 miles. He was standing on the side of the road, waiting for someone to run the last three miles with. He talked me home. He told me about his other marathons, about how difficult this course was compared to others he had run. He kept my mind off of my calf muscles.

This is me just four miles before the finish line, before the end of the pain, before I realized that the 18 weeks of training were over, that I could put on my flip-flops and sit down.

This was me a year ago, long before our friends' child was diagnosed with cancer, long before I realized how small the Doomsday Hill really is, how insignificant my climb to the top really was in relation to the challenges currently faced by our friends, by their daughter, by other sons and daughters with cancer and by their families. Running provides a great venue for thought, for trying to make sense of things, but some things just do not make sense. No amount of running will change that.

What I hope to accomplish by running 1,001 miles over the next year...

is to raise money for a wonderful organization that is doing great things for children with cancer and their families. I invite you to join me.

Thank you for your support,

Chris Chiacchierini 

If you have questions about 1,001 miles, please feel free to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .