The sport of cross country is contrasting to so many others. You must train your body to endure miles of running along with the rigors of competing on all types of terrain and a variety of other obstacles. Running is a passion and for all the hard work there comes the self-satisfaction of reaching personal goals each time you begin a workout or race.

      For one area runner, that passion has led him to use his talent to help in a worthy cause by raising awareness for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).

            Jonathan Kiddish of Weatherly, will be competing in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC on October 26 as a member of the Team in Training (TNT) program. The purpose of the journey is to raise funds for LLS in order to help find cures and ensure access to treatments for those individuals who have blood cancers. Through his efforts, Kiddish has pledged to raise $2100 which he seeks by way of donations.

      His story is touching on how he became involved with TNT. His best friend, Maria McArdle of Jim Thorpe, along with her friend, died in a car accident a number of years ago. Recently while searching the internet for information about her he found the writings of Maria Donata Rothermel. Her words touched him deeply and inspired him to join TNT.

      Rothermel wrote:
TRUTHFULNESS – “I must learn to always be truthful, especially when the truth is needed to help others.”

LOYALTY – “I must learn not to be afraid to stand up for and, if necessary, defend these things in which I so strongly believe.”

CHEERFULNESS – “It’s important to look on the bright side of things.”

HELPFULNESS – “I am trying to become more helpful, by learning to be more aware of peoples’ wants and needs.”

CONSIDERATION – “I must become more aware of other peoples' feelings and never try to purposely hurt someone else.”

      “She wrote, ‘If I can master these character traits, then I have a good chance of becoming the very best person I can be. This is important because that is my goal in life,” said Kiddish.

      Kiddish, a 1987 graduate of Weatherly Area High School, ran cross for four years. In 2008 he was in a car accident and suffered an injury that kept him in a neck brace for four months. Every attempt to become a runner again ended in failure. A few days of running were followed by more and more days of not until months had passed without running a single day. He knew it was time to make a change once and for all and made a commitment to run at least one mile every day for the rest of his life.

      The start came on the anniversary of the passing of his best friend. One mile – every day. Then on the start of day 42 he was told by his four year old nephew, ‘Run two, Jonny.’ Two miles soon turned into three, then four, then five.

      Kiddish, who is in his first year as Weatherly Area High School Cross Country coach, began training for the marathon one day at a time. To be precise he went exactly 1299 days without missing day.

      While on a recent training run with his team, Kiddish twisted his ankle on a misstep and suffered a sprain. His determination to succeed and run the marathon may have been a factor in his quick recovery as within two weeks he was back on his feet and working-out with his team, continuing to focus on his goal.

      “There is no way I am not doing it. I am committed to it. Even if I don’t run from now until the middle of October I’ll still be participating in that marathon,” said Kiddish.

      This will not be his first attempt at a marathon. He last ran one in 1998, however, it was with no formal training. This time around he is paying better attention to the task at hand. Along with being part of TNT, now that he is coaching there is even more willpower to succeed.

      “It’s very rewarding on many levels. It is a great feeling to be able to help students who want to be runners and be able to motivate them to become better runners and better students,” said Kiddish.

      “It is allowing me to use the same values, wisdom, motivation and inspiration that I have to pass on to others. It’s very significant. Those kids motivate me just by being runners.

      “This goal of the marathon to raise money and awareness for the Leukemia Society – Team in Training is using running to help raise money for people who have blood cancers. I now have an opportunity to expose other runners and young runners to what the Leukemia Society is doing and what the training is doing and how they may someday be able to use running to do more than just get into shape or help their cross country team in high school or college,” he continued.

      “There’s something way beyond running just for a team for points or victories that they can do with their running.”

      To donate go to: http://pages.teamintraining.org/epa/corps14/mindfulunity For more ways to donate and support, email Kiddish at: mindfulunity@gmail.com

      • 48,610 new cases of leukemia were expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2013.
      • Leukemia is the most common type of cancer in children and adolescents younger than 20 years, accounting for 26.7% of all cases.
      • An estimated 3,605 children and adolescents younger than 15 years were expected to be diagnosed with leukemia in the United States in 2013; 3 children every hour.
      • About 32% of cancer cases in children and adolescents younger than 15 years are leukemia.