Meet Stephen Taylor. Stephen is an incredibly inspiring guy who has enthusiastically joined Team GSF to raise funds for SMA research. On June 26th, Stephen is running the Western States 100 Ultra Marathon. The Western States 100 starts in Squaw Valley California and goes through the Sierra Nevadas for 100.2 miles. Yes, 100.2 miles!!! There is over 40,000 feet of elevation and descent throughout the race. This will be Stephen's first 100 mile race, but he ran the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler last year and he threw in the Boston Marathon last week just for kicks!!! This guy has endurance! And what he is doing is incredible. But, his compassion is perhaps even more inspiring, saying, “I'm pushing my body to the limits for the children with SMA who can't.”
Stephen knows about SMA firsthand and was forever impacted by darling Owen Simmons. Owen sadly passed away from SMA Type II on November 14th after a battle with pneumonia. He was only 23 months old. Owen was a beautiful little boy, the second son to Heather and Andy Simmons. He adored his big brother, smiled and laughed easily, and is enormously missed. Stephen is running for Owen, for the entire Simmons family, and for all the children battling this disease.
Read more about Stephen's inspiring run: 100miles4owen.blogspot.com,check out his Team GSF page and his Facebook fan page.Stephen is also hosting several fun fundraisers in the Boston area that we will be sure to let you know about (hint: Boston crab is involved — yum!). Thank you Stephen for pushing your endurance for SMA!!! You are incredible!