All donations go to the National MS Society.

It was grueling, it was painful and it was incredibly rewarding, which pretty much sums up every other marathon I ran.

But this one also had the added elements of humility and inspiration I did not find in my other seven races.

After the New York City marathon was cancelled (rightfully so) in the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, I felt I needed to run 26.2 miles as a gesture to all those who lent support and donated to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in the Race To Stop MS.

That took place Sunday at the Harrisburg (Pa.) Marathon, and the field nearly doubled in size to 1,514 runners because so many folks thought the same way I did.

The race was nice, and much of the course was beautiful. We started on City Island and crossed the Susquehanna River and then hit the streets of Harrisburg. I never spent time in the city, but I see myself going back. It is pretty, clean, has a real small city feel (in a good way) and is picturesque. The streets were not packed with supporters, but there were plenty of people to provide energy on the route.

No question the toughest part was miles 14 through 19, which included two miles of up and down through a park.

My sister, Cindy, who was diagnosed with MS a year ago, brought one of her daughters, who in turn brought her boyfriend. My wife and kids also came to cheer, and it was great seeing them at various stops on the course.

The race was what I anticipated from the pain and fatigued standpoint, and I also experienced plenty of cramping in the final four miles in which I had a stop a few times and stretch.

All that seemed to disappear when I hit mile 25 and could hear the commotion and cheering at the finish line. There were still plenty of laboring strides (yeah, I am calling them strides no matter how piddly they were at that point) until I reached the walking bridge back to the City Island finish line, but the constant cheering kept me going.

There was no chip time provided, but rather an overall time. I finished in 4:53:46, but I started back in the pack and estimated by chip time to be 4:52.

I always want to run faster, but that was not the point. I finished, hopefully raised a ton of awareness for the event and also was fortunate enough to have a ton of good people pony up their own hard-earned money and donate $5,400 to the Race To Stop MS cause.  

The best part?

It was not finishing. It was getting the chance to drape my finisher medial over Cindy and give it to her, and the kind words so many people had for running for the MS cause. At one point a fellow marathoner thanked me for running for the MS cause. adding his best friend has MS.

That is also a miscrosm of what I learned in the last eight months. It seems as though everyone knows someone affected by MS.

As I write this my body is already recovering. My legs are sore and I am tired, but by the end of the week I will feel like myself again.

For Cindy, and for everyone else battling MS, their feelings their day-to-day health is always a crapshoot. It is why I ran this race, but even with it being over, it is why I will continue to spread the word.

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Why I am Running

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Like all younger brothers, I love to make fun of my sister. When she visited me and my family in Los Angeles about five years ago, the plan was to do a 5K walk/run to raise money for breast cancer.

She complained for days about her leg hurting -- to the point she wasn't going to do the walk -- but with no recollection of why it hurt. So I told her she was soft. It even threatened our visit to Disneyland, and if you know me, that was not a good thing.

Come to find out in November 2011, the her leg pain was related to Multiple Sclerosis. After experiencing headaches, fatigue, unexplainable pain in parts of her body, the diagnosis was made.

She is family, so I overlooked the poundings she used to give me when we boxed in my grandparents' basement and looked for some way to help.

My solution was to run the New York City marathon, but with a catch. I wanted to help in some way, and decided I would raise awareness by running in her honor, and by raising money for the National MS Society. I am running this race in honor of Cindy Brush, who I expect to be waiting near the finish line sometime in the mid-afternoon on Nov. 4, 2012.

The National MS Society graciously accepted my application, and now it is my turn to repay the favor, and I am hoping you can help in any way you see fit. 

I saw from the periphery what MS can do.

As a sports writer at the Los Angeles Daily News, I wrote about a recruit named Robert Kibble. He was a smart, physically gifted and impressive safety from Texas. Prior to his senior season, he was diagnosed with MS, and two years later his career was over.

Kibble tried to play at UCLA as a freshman, but the strain on his from playing football took a brutal toll. I remember seeing the one-time vibrant, chiseled athlete pushed onto the practice field in a wheel chair after an MS relapse. Kibble, who is African-American, did not fit the profile of many MS sufferers.

Neither does my sister.

Cindy was diagnosed at 47 years of age. A hard, tireless worker, she spent months laying on her couch because of headaches and dizziness after a spinal tap confirmed her diagnosis. She did not work for four months, and even now is just getting back into a slowed-down version of her life.

Other are afflicted much worse than Cindy, and that is not to trivialize her condition.

I chose to run a marathon as my way of making a difference. Some of you may view that as crazy. I will ran my seventh marathon May 6, and they are no joke.

But a few days after I completed the 26.2-mile course, my body began healing, the soreness began leaving my body and I have remarkable, life-changing memories. I do not pretend to speak for all MS sufferers, but I believe every one of them would take on the challenge of running run 26.2 miles over having MS.

The National MS Society built a donation page for everyone to help out. I kid you not, no donation is too small. What does $1 mean? Well, a heckuva lot if 1,000 people pledge it.

If you cannot pledge money, please pledge to yourself to think for a moment about those afflicted with MS. Tell a friend about it, volunteer, or just give a quick prayer.

Help comes in many ways, including a circuitous route from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Central Park on the day of Nov. 4.

#Run4Cindy #NationalMSSociety #Race4theCure