By Ellen de Graffenreid
Here’s a question for endurance athletes : What motivated you to run 10 miles for the first time?
For Ashley Sexton Turner of Columbus, Ga., it was a good cause, a group of friends, and the shared bond of a friend who lost her battle with cancer at the age of 27. As part of “Team MC,” the mother of two ran the Wells Fargo Tar Heel 10-miler in April 2011.
“I wasn’t a runner but I signed up without thinking twice! I was excited for the perfect opportunity for our friends to gather in Chapel Hill, support UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and celebrate our friend Mary Claire’s life on the third anniversary of losing her,” Ashley said.
Team MC turned out 20 runners to celebrate the memory and legacy of Mary Claire Satterly, a 2002 UNC graduate, friend and sister who passed away in 2008, four days after her diagnosis with acute myelogenous leukemia. A positive and giving person, “MC” – as she was called by friends and family – thought of others even while she was undergoing tests and treatments. She said, “As soon as I get home, I’m going to comfort any child going through this.”
That spirit led her loved ones to establish the Mary Claire Satterly Foundation. Friends from her hometown of Wilson, N.C., her UNC classmates, and friends and colleagues from her successful advertising career in New York and San Francisco banded together to create events and raise funds to make a difference for kids with cancer. The foundation has funded a playroom named after her in the pediatric oncology clinic at UNC’s N.C. Cancer Hospital.
Julie Grahl of Charlotte, N.C., was one of the Team MC organizers who encouraged Ashley to take on 10 miles in Chapel Hill. “My husband and I got an email advertising the race and we realized the date was the same weekend that MC passed away in 2008 and that the proceeds went to UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, the same doctors who took care of MC. We thought it would be a great weekend to get friends and family together to run the race and have a smaller event to raise money for the Mary Claire Satterly Foundation.”
Julie organized the race participants and members of the Satterly family, including MC’s brother, Stephen, and her mother, Joan Satterly, pitched in to invite people, arrange a venue and barbeque catering in Chapel Hill and organize a cheering section on the sidelines. All told, about 20 runners ran and walked and MC’s parents both volunteered on the race route. Runners had “Team MC” signs on their shirts and stuck together during the race. Julie said, “We love any chance to get together, celebrate MC’s life and raise money for the foundation.”
Ashley added, “I told MC’s parents that no one but MC could convince me to try a 10-mile race! I’ll never forget running past the Satterlys at their volunteer post along the course.”
Julie’s husband, Jimmy, who ran with the team, said, “I really loved everything about the race: the distance, the course, and especially the opportunity to run for a cause that has so much meaning to the MC Spirit Foundation. I run the vast majority of the races I enter solo, so it was a great feeling to have so many friends with me at the starting line.”
For more information about the MC Spirit Foundation visit http://mcspirit.org/.
For more information about UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center visit www.unclineberger.org/. If you are interested in raising funds for UNC Lineberger by running the Wells Fargo Tar Heel 10-miler or Fleet Feet 4-miler, visit www.10miler.kintera.org to make your own personalized fundraising page.
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Ellen de Graffenreid is the director of communications and marketing at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She has already put her Tar Heel 10-miler training plan on her calendar and joined UNC Lineberger/UNC Cancer Care’s fundraising team.
