Shenendehowa Coach Pledges Marathon For Athlete With Cancer


While the COVID-19 pandemic has created a health scare for many, it doesn't mean other health issues have fallen by the wayside. No team knows that better than Shenendehowa, where one of their own athletes discovered a cancerous mass near their jaw last Winter, and has been treating the disease ever since.

Yeva Klingbeil is now a senior at Shenendehowa, and still a vital member of the team. She is out of the hospital, and able to, socially distanced, meet again with her teammates, and begin her recovery. Shenendehowa Girls XC Head Coach Rob Cloutier, has organized a Pledge Marathon in order to generate funds to aid in her recovery. You can find the full details below.


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Visit their PledgeIt.org

The Shenendehowa High School Girls Cross Country and Track teams led by Coach Rob aren't just about looking to have the fastest times, or most wins. Rob's philosophies are more about #FEO (For each other), #GBGB (get busy getting better), and so much more. The team is truly a family unit that supports one another on and off the trail or track. So, with this culture in place when something happens to one member of the team it impacts them all. Yeva Klingbeil is one such member of Coach Rob's team.

Yeva was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancerous mass near her jaw and began chemotherapy in November, and radiation treatments January-March. Unfortunately, these treatments led to damage to her brain stem which resulted in significant weakness, inability to swallow, and respiratory failure. After 6 weeks in the ICU battling each day to train her body to sit, then to stand and to breathe without the aide of a ventilator, Yeva is back home continuing with treatments and work with many specialists. She still needs a ventilator to support her breathing at night and a feeding tube to eat. Thankfully, Yeva's tumor has shrunk to half the original size and tumor activity is significantly reduced. Yeva and her family pray her brain will continue healing and she'll be able to breathe, walk, and eat once again. While Yeva has gone through all of this and more, she has never stopped caring about her friends and family and has never given up hope of recovery.

Visit their PledgeIt.org

To help support Yeva and her family while she continues with her recovery, Coach Rob will be running a marathon route ending by Yeva's house on Sunday, November 1, 2020. You can help by getting involved with our marathon event in 2 ways- support financially through pledges per mile (click above), or a flat pledge for the event, or by support logistically on race day. Do you want to join him for all, or part of the run, or help cheer him on? The run will start at 7am and follow the route below:

Click the button below to load the route in your smartphone app so you can navigate it, and post your time to the route leaderboard. Pro Tip 1: Be sure you've got the latest version of the MapMyRun mobile app installed before you start. Pro Tip 2: Forward this email to friends so they can also enjoy this route. https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/3422364448

Your support of the Marathon for Yeva will not only assist the financial burden for the Klingbeil family, as Yeva has chosen to share the funds raised with Family Reach. Family Reach is a national 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to eradicating the financial barriers that accompany a cancer diagnosis.