Training with heart

Editor’s note: This is the first in a four-month series of

first-person accounts by Newport Beach resident Grant Dunning on

training for his first marathon.

My name is Grant Dunning and I have lived in Newport Beach since

1970. I attended Eastbluff Elementary and Corona del Mar High. I am

now 39 years old, happily married to my wife, Judy, for 14 years and

have two beautiful daughters -- Brooke, 10, and Paige, 8.

Recently, I made the commitment to run the Orange County Marathon

on Jan. 8. Considering I am 39 years old, weigh 230 pounds and have

never run more than a 5-kilometer race, my family and friends thought

I had lost it. When I told them that I was also going to push my

daughter in a wheelchair for the entire race, they really thought I

was crazy.

Yet, at the same time it became very inspiring. Within two days of

my decision, I had eight friends committed to running the whole

marathon in my support. I know this number will continue to grow, not

to mention family and friends that will participate in the other

races (half marathon, 5K, kids’ race) and volunteer on the weekend of

the event.

The reason I committed to running the marathon is simple -- I am

doing it for my daughter, Paige, and the numerous other kids in

Orange County just like her. Paige is a wonderful and healthy little

girl who happens to have Cerebral Palsy. As the result of oxygen loss

during delivery, she was born unconscious but was resuscitated and

spent five weeks in the hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Today, Paige is a sweet and beautiful child who is still working

on all of her gross and fine motor skills. She loves participating in

all aspects of life. She is an adaptive skier, loves going on boats,

wave runners, roller coasters and anything with speed, just like her

dad.

Although Paige is nonverbal, she communicates with her beautiful

brown eyes, magnetic smile and facial expressions. As a father, I

will accept no boundaries to helping Paige reach her maximum

potential, so the sky is the limit for what she will achieve next.

Completing the OC Marathon with my daughter will be a major milestone

for both of us. Spending the next five months training together will

strengthen the special bond that we already have.

To garner support from the community, we have created a team name

and website, www.teamdunning.com, to keep everyone updated on our

training progress. Paige and I have committed to the OC Marathon

training program organized by race director Bill Sumner.

We completed our first training day on Aug. 6 at the CdM track.

For the next five months, we’ll take our training one day at a time,

until we cross the marathon finish line as a team.