Goodrichs take on marathon challenge

Oliver is running for Julie. Julie is running for Sandy. And Sandy is running for, well, strangers. All three are determined to cross not one, but two finish lines.
    The threesome are a part of the American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation endurance event program, where friends train for months, raise financial support and awareness and then complete a half or a full marathon — together. They donate the proceeds to cancer research in hopes of ending the disease. Though there are races across the country, these three have spent the last six months preparing for a November 15 Rock n Roll marathon in San Antonio, Texas.
Oliver Goodrich, assistant director of first year experiences at Gordon College and Houlton High School graduate, first began training because of his friend and boss, Julie Ray, associate dean of the first year experience at Gordon. He’d been inspired by Ray’s commitment to her longtime friend, Sandy Sackrison of Allen, Texas, who’d been training the previous year when a diagnosis of breast cancer interrupted her running plans. So Ray stepped in for Sackrison and began training for the marathon while Sackrison underwent surgery and chemotherapy.
“I’d never enjoyed running before,” Goodrich said. “But when her friend broke the news to her, Julie’s response was to inconvenience her own life to such a degree that her friend would receive this gesture of empathy. That inspired me.”
Then in the middle of Ray’s training last spring, she herself was diagnosed with breast cancer. So when she began treatment, Goodrich started running.  Now with Sackrison and Ray cancer-free, the three are part of a team they refer to as “Breast Friends,” hoping to raise a combined $4,000 by the time they get to the San Antonio starting line.
“Last week I passed the six-month mark after my breast cancer diagnosis,” Ray said. “When Oliver saw I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my commitment to Sandy, he began to train for all of us.  Now it’s amazing to see how interconnected our lives have become, so that by November 15, our adventure in solidarity — with the support of so many other friends along the way — will take a new path as we run together.”
As part of their American Cancer Society DetermiNation team, Goodrich and his father, Dave, will run the full 26.2 miles; Ray, Sackrison and her husband Gary will run a half marathon.
“Essentially, Oliver has kept me in the loop about his friend Julie’s condition as it has evolved,” the elder Goodrich said. “Julie is someone that I have come to know over the years as she is a colleague of Oliver’s at Gordon.”
Dave Goodrich is a veteran marathon runner and when he found out what motivated his son, he wanted to be an encourager and share some lessons he had learned about running long distances.
“It really was a wonderful story how they were each supporting each other in their health issues, running for one another,” Dave Goodrich said. “Then when he called me this summer and asked if I had any interest in running with him on his first marathon, I said “Absolutely!”
Dave Goodrich ran three marathons in October. He ran in Oregon, California and then Bar Harbor. He will have nearly a month’s rest for this event, so he says he will be fine to run.
“This is a string of four marathons in 43 days,” he said. “I had a stretch two years ago where I ran four in 36 days. It seems like a lot, but your body does adapt to the demands placed upon it.”
Dave Goodrich’s involvement is two fold.
“I want to support my son’s efforts in his first marathon, as well as his friend and colleague in her journey with Breast Cancer,” he said. “I want to help them raise funds, as well as awareness.”
In other marathons that Goodrich has ran, he discovered there are people, both individuals and groups, who are participating to raise sponsorship or awareness for one cause or another.
“Of the 30-plus marathons I’ve run, this one will rank near the top as far as memories,” he said.
For more information or to set up an interview, contact jo.kadlecek@gordon.edu or visit the American Cancer Society DetermiNation web site, http://mainacsevents.org/goto/team.breast.friends.
Editor’s note: This story was written by Jo Kadlecek, senior writer, Office of College Communications;    communication arts, faculty Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., with additional information from David Goodrich added by Gloria Austin, Houlton Pioneer Times.