On the Run: Kevin Wales

Kevin Wales (left) and friends at an LSU tailgate.

Kevin Wales finished the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon in February, raising more than $5,000 for NF research. For Kevin, who has NF1, this half marathon meant much more than completing 13.1 miles. “It meant doing something that at one time in my life would have been inconceivable,” said Kevin.

Kevin broke his right femur in March 1991 when he was in eighth grade. He was in the hospital, had to have to his leg in a cast, enduring many days of physical therapy. It took months for his leg to be back at full strength. Kevin’s orthopedist had to write a letter to his high school exempting him from physical education courses because of concern for further injury. Although Louisiana required two years of physical education to graduate, his doctor’s letter trumped the requirement; he had to take alternate courses instead.

So when Kevin crossed the finish line of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Half Marathon, it meant much more — accomplishing something he never thought possible. “To be able to run 13.1 miles after nearly 19 years after that life-changing event, is, well, life-changing in and of itself,” said Kevin.
***

Fundraising Secret: Modify letters. Kevin sent out more than 100 letters to his friends, family and community members. However, he tailored letters by how well the recipient knew him and how much they knew about what NF has done to him. For example, because his sister and three of her five children have NF, he could cut out how NF affected him personally.  For other letters, he had to be more specific, without getting into too much detail, as he wanted to keep the letters down to one page only.

Training Tips: Start small. When he started training in the latter part of June of 2009, Kevin could barely finish three miles. His first goal was four miles, then five, until he could gradually increase his mileage to double digits. “Once I started focusing just on distance and ignored speed, I noticed that my speed on race days increased!” said Kevin. “When I was able to run 12 miles in late January and didn’t feel any pain afterward, plus no soreness the next day, I knew that I was ready.”