Do a Fundraiser

Getting Down & Dirty Against Colon Cancer

In December 2010, Francis Shanahan, Chris Gazzo, and David Gazzo, a.k.a. "Team Mandelbaum," committed to running in the Tough Mudder Pennsylvania event in honor of Francis' wife Karen Shanahan. Karen was diagnosed in April 2007 with stage IV colon cancer, but has since been doing great. The race started on Saturday April 9th, 2011 at Bear Creek Ski resort, almost 4 years to the day after Karen's initial diagnosis. Along the racetrack, the families of Shanahan and Gazzo families were out in full support.

The Tough Mudder has quickly become known as one of the toughest endurances out there and this event was no exception. The 11.5 mile course wound its way up and down the still-snowy ski slopes of Bear Creek Ski Resort in Allentown, PA. Besides the punishing hills and snow, the course featured 25 obstacles specially designed by the British Special Forces. 

These included crawling through rock-filled tunnels, sloshing through a mile of waste-deep mud-pits, a stinging dunking in the Habanero-filled tank, specially greased monkey bars, miles and miles of rocky trails through the Pennsylvanian forest, a 15 foot leap into Bear Creek's frigid lake, crawling hand over fist under cargo nets and, last but not least, an electrocution of 10,000 volts just before the finish line.

Team Mandelbaum met every challenge together as a team and had an absolute blast in the process. 

Donations were collected through Razoo.com and by March 2011, just a month before the race, over $2,000 had been raised. As a final push before the event, Francis promised to shave his head if the goal of $3,000 could be reached. The team exceeded $3,000, with a final tally of $3,120 from over 50 generous contributors. 

It was a great event and they were honored to be able to give back to the Colon Cancer Alliance community that has helped them so much throughout the last 4 years. You can read Karen's full story at http://karenscancer.blogspot.com.

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