[Jill and Ashley Kumlien]

1 woman is running across America right now

2 raise money

4 Multiple Sclerosis (MS).  It is going to take her

6 months and

11 pairs of shoes to complete her mission. Last week Ashley Kumlien ran through Omaha, Nebraska (my neck of the woods) where she was accompanied by

14 local runners (her largest group yet!) for about 10 miles. Go Omaha, Go Omaha! She started her run at the Golden Gate Bridge on March

22 and anticipates completing her cross-country journey by the end of September in New York. She’s getting it done by running about

25 to 28 miles a day splitting her mileage up into 2 sessions. Pretty impressive for any

26 year old. Ashley quit her job and is running in honor of her mother, Jill Kumlien, who has been living with MS for

28 years.

28 years! But Ashley’s not alone, she’s sharing her borrowed

30 foot motor home with her fiance, who proposed 3 weeks into the trip…ahhhh! Love birds! OK, enough of the mushy stuff…Can you even image running over

3,200 miles?! She has 2,000 miles behind her and a little over 1,000 to go! One of the benefits, OK 2 of the benefits of running as much as Ashley: You get to eat

4,500 calories a day and get a killer tan plenty of Vitamin D! But running across America is no joke. Ashley hopes to raise

500,000 dollars and to raise awareness of MS, a disease Ashley describes as a “brain/body disconnect that can impact anyone.” You can follow Ashley’s run and find out how you or your company can support her foundation by visiting www.msruntheus.com.

Now I really must go, but before I do, I’ll leave you with 1 of the lessons I’ve learned from Ashley, a woman who truly believes…

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” – Steve Prefontaine