65 Miles for 65 Roses

May is National Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month.

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

From the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation:

*”Cystic Fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time.”

CF causes mucous to build up in the lungs, making people with this disease more susceptible to have lung infections. Mucous can also build up in the pancreas making it harder to break down the nutrients the body needs. It also causes liver disease and infertility in men. (Check out the links below to learn more about CF.)

To help spread awareness of this disease my friend, who has CF, created a Facebook group ’65 Miles for 65 Roses.’ The challenge is to get in 65 miles throughout the month of May. Not exactly knowing what CF is I did some research and became aware of what this disease is and how it affects the lives of people with CF. I also did not know the correlation with the number 65, so after a quick google search this is what I found:

**In 1965 a mother who had three sons with CF volunteered for the foundation. Her four year old son could not pronounce the disease he had but instead called it 65 roses; after continuously hearing his mother say Cystic Fibrosis to organizations she had to call while volunteering for the foundation. 65 roses is used in place of Cystic Fibrosis to make it easier for children to say.

Let’s help bring awareness to this life-threatening disease that affects over 70,000 people worldwide. Along with 65 miles for 65 roses we challenge you to walk, run, bike, however you can to get in 65 miles this month.

My mileage so far:

May 3rd- 6 mile run

May 4th- 4 mile run

references:

*https://www.cff.org/What-is-CF/About-Cystic-Fibrosis/

**https://www.cff.org/About-Us/About-the-Cystic-Fibrosis-Foundation/The-65-Roses-Story/

~Rachael