By Eddie Rybarski
MENDOTA, IL (WREX) -- Ashley Kumlien's mother was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis 28 years ago -- two years before the 26-year-old Brookfield, WI woman was born. Watching her mother deal with the debilitating disease has motivated Ashley to use her own talents to the best of their ability."Even though she has some handicaps and disabilities from the disease, she really wakes up everyday and is thankful for the things she can still do, and she's very perseverant about her life. So I wanted to use my love of running...to do something big to raise money and awareness for M.S.," said Kumlien.
So Ashley hatched a big idea. She would run the length of the continental United States -- from San Francisco to New York City -- while securing sponsorships and receiving donations along the way. Ashley says at first, even her parents were wary.
"My parents were a little silent when I told them about what I wanted to do, but it only took a day for the idea to set in. They asked me later on, the next day basically, 'How do you plan on accomplishing this?' and 'What do you plan on doing?' Once I told them my plans and I had basically an answer to every question they gave me, they realized I was serious about it."
With the support of her parents and fiance Andrew Dale, Ashley hit the ground running. Last year, she founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization named "MS Run the US" and worked to obtain several major sponsorships. A family from Chicago donated an R.V. and a family in San Francisco donated a used car. Then, on March 22, Ashley embarked on her 3,230 mile transcontinental trek across the United States. She runs 20-30 miles a day, six days a week. As remarkable as that is, Ashley says the running hasn't been the most challenging part.
"The running in the first two weeks was stressful but it wasn't the hardest thing I've ever experienced. Since then my body and endurance have just grown so the running isn't as hard as you would think it'd be," said Kumlien. "I would say the biggest challenges came to me before I even started running -- obtaining...the things we would need in order to make this run possible. It was more of just convincing people that it was something I was capable of doing without having any evidence besides my running ability."
More than four months into the run, Ashley has turned her skeptics into believers.
"Now that people can see that I'm capable of running this, it's gone from 'You're crazy' to 'You're inspiring," so that's nice to know that people have changed their opinions a little bit about how much the human body can endure in a short amount of time," Kumlien said. "My mom's just elated about it and she's just really proud and probably equally as proud as I am of her and the way she lives her life."
It was the thought of her mother's pride and courage that has helped Ashley get to this point in her journey.
"Anytime I hit a wall or reached an obstacle, felt stressed out or anything you can imagine feeling with doing something like this, I would think of my mom and how she approaches every day. She doesn't get a break from living with this disease and I really want to do something about it so I don't want to take a break from this. So those obstacles were really overcome with her in mind and using her examples to lead my life."
Passing through Mendota yesterday and onward to Sandwich today, Ashley has run more than 2,250 miles and raised more than $24,000. While she's already traveled roughly 7/10 of her journey, she says she is still a long way from her much larger goal.
"My sense of accomplishment will be when we reach our $500,000 goal. Once we reach that, then I can say me, my fiance and everyone who's supported 'MS Run the US' has really accomplished something big," said Kumlien. "With the fundraisers and pledges I've seen on TV and throughout America, I know we can raise thousands and thousands of dollars in just a couple minutes. So I fully believe that people that hear this story look into it and they see the profile that I put up of my mom and the way she lives her life; they'll look into M.S. a little bit more and realize this is a big act for a really good cause."
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To learn more about "MS Run the US" and Ashley's mission, you can visit the MS Run the US website. You can also follow it on Facebook and Twitter.
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