RAAM - Final Push

Dear RAAM Riders & Crew,

We are just packing up to head down to Annapolis, and I can't help thinking how absolutely incredible it is to think that in the next 24 hours, all three of our amazing NF teams will have completed RAAM 2009. Not only the incredible journey from California, through the desert and the Rockies, through the heat and boredom of the plains, around the steep climbs of West Virginia, and finally to Maryland, but also - and maybe equally important - the journey from nervous pre-race preparation and anxiety, to sizing up the other members of your teams and crew as you met up, to the excitement of the start, the exhilaration of the first few miles, the pain and frustration of exhaustion, injury, heat, etc., the sudden interface with differing and unfamiliar personalities, sleep-deprivation, exuberance, gallows humor, excitement, and now the mixed emotion of longing for home, loved ones, rest, and air conditioning, all bumping up against the feeling that this adventure is almost over and you want to feel the "rush" a little longer - an emotional journey in itself I would imagine. Having never ridden in or crewed for the whole way in a race like this, I have no way to appreciate how you are all feeling, but I can tell you that we have all been following your amazing progress, we are all in awe of what you have accomplished, and are amazed and grateful for all you are doing to raise awareness of NF and ferret out research funding to find a cure.

On behalf of my family, all the families struggling with NF, and the Children's Tumor Foundation, THANK YOU ALL!

Enjoy the final push,
John McCarthy

PS. Since it looks like Ari's Angels will be finishing around 4:00 AM, we all decided to stay in our comfortable hotel rooms and just put the life-size poster of Bill Hardy from Trish's office at the finish instead (kidding!).


For those of you contemplating welcoming our RAAM teams in Annapolis:
Annapolis Visitors Bureau
Annapolis City Website