Running with purpose

Inspired by loss of her fiance, Erin Morehouse sets fundraising goal for her first half-marathon

   Erin Morehouse is on a mission. 
    Inspired by the loss of her fiance Kyle DeVries in 2007, she’s on a mission to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancer.  DeVries, a standout athlete while at Clear Lake High School went on to play college football at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls.  That’s where he was diagnosed with leukemia.

    “Kyle was the most dedicated athlete I have ever met.  Everything he did, he gave his all, including his battle with Leukemia,” said Erin.  With that in mind, she has begun training for a half marathon to be held June 3 in Minneapolis, Minn., as a member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team in Training.   “Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.”
    This isn’t Erin’s first run for a cause.  Last year she participated in a 5K race to benefit the bone marrow registry.
    “I created a team and we raised a good amount of money.  I felt really good after it and happy that I may have helped get people on to the bone marrow registry which was very important to Kyle and I since he had to use the registry to get his stem cell transplant,” said Erin.  “So after that race I started looking into doing something else and I found TNT with the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  I thought it was the perfect way to honor Kyle because he was so athletic and it would be something that would take a lot of dedication plus raising money to help others going through what Kyle went through.”
    She believes Kyle would be surprised, but happy about her decision to train and participate in a half marathon. 
    “I was a cheerleader and somewhat athletic, but never a runner.  I never had the dedication like Kyle did, so I think he would be so excited to see me do something I never thought I could.  He was very good at setting goals for himself and reaching them with hard work.  I like to try and think the way he did when I don’t feel like running.”
    Training began a few weeks ago and is on schedule, according to Erin.  The team is given a weekly schedule to follow and then they run as a team every Saturday with their running coach. 
    “When I’m running and don’t want to go any farther, I imagine all of the things Kyle went through with chemo and radiation and realize- Read More Via e-Edition