Annapolis

We made it! As you can see by the pictures, everyone made it across the country safely, soundly, and, most of all, overjoyed by this amazing experience. It’s difficult to find the right words to describe the emotions we’re all feeling; not just for these 38 who made the 3000-mile trek, but also for the families and friends who were waiting here in Annapolis at the end.

The photos do say it best, I guess. I think we are all very proud to have been part of something so epic – something bigger than we dared dream. We’ve been changed. We raised awareness, we put over $200,000 towards research for the Children's Tumor Foundation, but even more than that, we’ve all realized that limits are, for the most part, self-imposed.

One week, one-way, 3000 miles. NF Endurance certainly lived up to its name with Team Sami, Drew’s Crew and Ari’s Angels. I can say that I’ve never been more proud, and, at the same time, more humbled, to be part of this team.

Steve Kendra
Director, NF Endurance
Member Ari’s Angels 2009 RAAM Team
“Happy Sak” - Look for new Action figure, coming soon. (Sorry, inside joke with our crew.)

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

Last Post before Annapolis!

Hi everyone,

Only have a second here but I thought I'd send ya'll one more note from the road. Dan and I are resting right now and will start riding at midnight again.



The Bills will join us to help climb some of the West Virginia mountains sometime in the morning. Yikes! I have no idea what town or state, for that matter, the hotel that I'm writing to you from is in. One of the side effects of RAAM is that things move so fast sometimes, us riders just do what were told, and ride when we need to. Connie Oslica is the best crew chief I could possibly imagine. He has handled everything in stride, with such a wonderful sense of humor, and organization. Right now he and the crew are repairing one of our support vehicles, doing laundry, organizing and packing things for this last push, emptying the RV, filling the RV, God knows what else. . .unreal support. We would not be here without them,

A quick shout out to all our crew. Florence McCarthy, Leslie and Katie Oslica, Taylor Gentile, Dan Kendra Jr., and Tom McVaugh, and the amazing Trish Hardy. These guys are absolutely the best there is - can't praise them enough.



The ride through Illinois and Indiana today was rather hot, humid and hilly. I had a little argument with a Pit Bull (and won by squirting my water bottle in his face thanks to a suggestion from Dan :)) We saw what we're pretty sure was a dead guy on the road last night after he crashed his motorcycle. That was a little sobering. Then, this afternoon most of us got to stop to visit with Jill and Rodney Markland, along with their wonderful family - what a great boost that was. And, I think Amy Curtis Kast is cheering on the Bill's as we speak. Thanks guys!

Other than that, we are looking forward to arriving in Annapolis sometime early Sunday morning. Thanks go out to all our families for waiting for us and allowing us the privilege of participating in this race. Thanks to all the great people at the Children's Tumor Foundation for their support and all they do to enable effective treatments and hopefully some day a cure. And, thanks especially to all of you for reading all this, supporting our mission, and helping us raise awareness and pedal our way to a cure.

NF Endurance Rocks!

Click here to view team photos.