100 miles. 100 miles in 26 hours and 54 minutes. 100 miles in memory of sweet Owen Simmons.
Stephen Taylor completed his second Western States 100 endurance challenge and he's got the bumps and blisters to show for it. What Stephen did was incredible — awe inspiring. But add to it that he didn't just do this to only challenge himself, he did this race to help end the #1 genetic killer of young children. In memory of beautiful forever 23-month-old Owen Simmons, in honor of all those fighting the disease today, Stephen ran and he ran and he ran… and he told people about SMA and he raised money to fight it.
There are so many remarkable things about the big race day and Stephen's blog post really takes you on the journey with him. Some of the things that really touched us were that two separate groups came up to him pre-race after recognizing him from theGSF blog. They knew what he was doing. They knew about SMA. And they wanted to let him know they were wishing him well. We love that. And in addition, so many people asked Stephen and his team about their 100 Miles For Owen shirts with the slogan “We run for those who can't” and were so moved by the cause. One person at at time!
One of the images that Stephen describes so well was that the trail was filled with butterflies this year. Seeing these butterflies fly around in the sunlight after running for so many hours in the dark focused his thoughts on those impacted by SMA and helped encourage him and motivate him on, which is what he is doing for us. His endurance and perseverance inspires us and his selflessness and willingness to literally go the extra mile for SMA is heroic. Stephen, you are amazing.
Check out more pictures and read his incredible journey on the 100MilesForOwen blog. And if you'd like to buy a 100 Miles For Owen t-shirt, email Stephen here.
Are you inspired by Stephen? Join him and the many other incredible Team GSF athletes who have raised over $40,000 to fight this brutal disease. 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, triathlon, or an ultra like Stephen — YOU can do it and YOU can help change SMA.