Why I Run – Michelle Farler


Michelle Farler ran in the 2015 Chicago Marathon for Team Breakthrough T1D. Here is her story:

marathonAlmost four years ago, I drove to cross country practice early in the morning just as I had every other day.

Only this day was different. I arrived at practice slurring my words, stumbling to the point where I almost fell into a creek, and a nod of my head was all I could manage in answer to my teammates through the delirium. Thankfully, I was told to go wait in the car rather than run.

After an hour of comatose sleep, my team captain resorted to pouring water on me after shaking and yelling left me motionless lost deep in sleep. The next day, my doctor diagnosed me with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in less than five minutes. Finally the months of exhaustion, hunger, and thirst were explained and I couldn’t help but smirk with the thought of an excuse as to why I was running so slow.

Despite a chronic diagnosis with no quick fix, I was completely comfortable as I googled how to work a blood glucose meter or as the nurse showed me how to prick my finger and inject myself. The only thing I could see was a way to feel better and stronger, and finally like myself again. I had times when I was overwhelmed by it all, and wished I could go back to before, but in the end, I don’t know who I would be without T1D.

When I was diagnosed I received awkward pity looks and questions about whether I would continue to play sports or how I had diabetes when I was clearly not obese. My answer: I signed up and ran my first half-marathon that December, six months after diagnosis. After my first year in college in the most amazing city I could ask for, I decided it is time for a new challenge, and a marathon only seemed fitting.

Last October I proudly ran the streets of Chicago bearing a Team Breakthrough T1D singlet. I chose to run for Breakthrough T1D because without them I may not be here and certainly would not be in the condition to run a marathon. Without them the technology that allows me to stay healthy would still be a distant dream. The pumps, meters, and continuous glucose monitors (just to name a few) would be as far from a reality as a cure was 50 years ago. Today thanks to the strides made by Breakthrough T1D there are remarkable advances being made and a cure, in one form or another, is in sight just on the horizon.

Through donors like you, we are chasing this horizon down and making the image clearer. A marathon is composed of thousands of steps, each completely insignificant in itself – but when put together, an amazing feat is accomplished.

Please take a step, no matter how big or how small, and help achieve something great.

If you’d like to support a runner registered with Team Breakthrough T1D –  click here.

Team Breakthrough T1D has a limited amount of guaranteed spots available, if you’d like to register for the Marathon or, if you earned a spot through the lottery and would like to join as a supporting runner (same benefits with a lower fundraising minimum) – click here.