186th Year, No. 351 SERVING SALEM COUNTY, NJ SINCE 1819, SUNDAY, AUGUST 28, 2005 © 2005 Today's Sunbeam
PENNSVILLE TWP. -- Brian Richards was 14 years old when his mother died of cancer. She was only 40. Richards' mother, Kathleen Richards, was one of 17 members of his family affected by the disease. Only four survived. Although the Pennsville resident remembers the feeling he got at camp when he knew something had happened to her, it was not that loss that changed his life. It was later, when he saw what the disease did to the strongest man he'd ever known, that made a lasting impression. "I watched my father pick up a 55-gallon trash can that three garbage men couldn't lift," he said. "In 1960, he was at an auto show and lifted the front end of a Volkswagen Beetle to see what it looked like underneath." Growing up, Richards said he believed the United States would have lost World War II if it wasn't for his dad. So to see how colon cancer affected his father really shook him, and motivated him to raise money for the cause. He said he watched his father lay in the hospital bed, with his hands over his head, moving back and forth. His feet moved in a running motion. "There was nothing you could do to stop the pain," he said. Richards' father died in 1988, the first year Richards participated in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge Jimmy Fund Bike Ride. It was a 194-mile ride to benefit cancer research. His father was one of his sponsors that year.
Richards plans to walk 26.2 miles Sept. 18 in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk. The money goes toward cancer research and treatment. This will be his ninth year walking, and his 18th event. For him, it's an athletic event for someone who's definitely not an athlete. Richards has an arthritic left knee, and needs knee-replacement, but refuses. He is determined to walk each year, no matter how much pain he endures. Last year, it took thinking of tunes from his favorite band, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, to get through the 26.2 miles. By mile nine, I felt like someone had poured sand in my shoes," he said. When he finished, his socks were soaked with blood. "I tell people, 'pain is temporary, pride is forever,'" he said.
Richards also participates in the March of Dimes and Relay for Life, but only solicits sponsors for The Jimmy Fund. He says, he "only goes to the well once." He donates blood and platelets for leukemia when the Lower Alloways Creek Police Department holds drives several times a year. The police department is sponsoring the PSEG employee for the second year in a row. Each year, Richards dedicates his walk to someone in his family. This year, he is dedicating the walk to his sponsors. Over the years, they have helped him raise $55,000 to go to Jimmy Fund. "They're the ones that get the kudos this year," he said.
Richards is currently training for his September trek in Boston. He wears a knee-brace that he must replace every six or seven months. But he will continue to walk in the marathon as long as he can put one foot in front of the other. When he can no longer do that, he'll find another way to raise money in memory of his parents, and everyone else who has lost the battle like his 13 family members did. "If I can't walk, you have the Scooper Bowl," he said of the ice cream eating contest that also benefits the Jimmy Fund. "I'll eat ice cream." To learn about Richards' participation in the Boston Marathon or to sponsor him, visit his Web site at www.brianrichards.com.
