I am a very blessed person. I was born with a Congenital Heart Defect called Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR). I always thought that it sounded more like a sequel to Star Wars than a heart defect. My heart defect meant that 3 out of 4 of my pulmonary veins were returning oxygenated blood into the wrong side of my heart. Fortunately, I had a hole that was letting some of the oxynated blood leak to the left side to be pumped through my body. When I was 2 1/2 I had open heart surgery to correct this.

My health is awesome, but my heart defect introduced me to a group of children and adults with heart defects that need our help (which I learned is close to 2million in the U.S. alone).

I would love to see a day when no more children or adults have to go through painful procedures and heart surgeries due to something they were just born with.

I'm taking on my first ever ultra distance marathon (over 26 miles) on July 14 in Philly. The race is an 8.4 mile loop and I have 24 hours to complete as many laps as possible. My goal is to get over 100 miles!

I need your support to make this race worth the pain!

I also encourage you to read this blog by Steve Catoe. Steve is a legend in the CHD community and will always be looked up to by all of us:

(http://tricuspid.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/a-cure-for-heart-defects-2/)

Donations made go to ACHA:

The Adult Congenital Heart Association (ACHA) is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the quality of life and extend the lives of adults with congenital heart defects. Through education, outreach, advocacy, and promotion of research, ACHA serves and supports the more than one million adults with congenital heart defects, their families and the medical community. www.achaheart.org

To follow my training and blogs go to: www.tri4number1.com!