Featured guest and Runner of the Week, Kim Stemple, gives listeners an update on her health and her organization We Finish Together since her last appearance on TRLS in November and since her story went viral through Runner’s World and social media. Go-to, real-food dietitian Serena Marie, RD, talks about the importance of being mindful and having conversations during mealtimes. Kari and Serena also get deep and discuss gratitude.
Featured Guest and Runner of the Week: Kim Stemple
Kim Stemple, previously featured on “Special Mindful Monday w/Kim Stemple, Founder Of We Finish Together” (Episode 103) gives Kari and listeners an update on her health issues, including a painful nerve condition called sodium channelopathy, a rare mitochondrial disease, benign bone tumors, and lymphoma.

Kim is at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Maryland currently, and her doctors are baffled as to how she’s frankly still alive.
Kari and Kim recap the Cupid’s Undie Run in Washington, DC in February and what a wonderful race it is that goes to charity (Children’s Tumor Foundation).
She shares what she’s learned being in palliative care, which is a multidisciplinary approach to specialised medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis.
This month, she’s hoping to do the Shamrock Marathon's Townebank 8K and the Anthem half marathon in Virginia Beach, VA, then she hopes to do a North Face Endurance Challenge 50K trail race in April.
Her palliative care doctor approves of Kim having goals and anything to keep her going, and the 50K will be a family event.
Kari mentions “What Happy People Do” (Episode 24) based off of Bronnie Ware’s book—some of the top things that people share with her.
Kari asked Kim if she felt comfortable sharing, and Kim thinks it’s necessary to talk about what happy people do in the face of challenges.
Every moment is a gift, and we tend to look at the negative side, and Kim looks at the positive side now since she’s been in palliative care. Everyone’s journey isn’t the same, and we need to talk about other things than being sick and to talk about what makes us happy.
Kim tries to look at the present and takes things one day at a time. Things are so much worse if you dread them versus just hoping for the best. Take the happiness as it comes, and don’t dread what’s to come. Don’t sweat Mile 26 of the marathon at Mile 1. Run each mile that you’re in.
She also talks about wishing she had gotten together with friends more despite the messy house or no makeup. The you is what’s inside, not how clean your house is or what’s on your face. Just like a runner is a runner no matter how fast you can.
Kim’s big thing now is to smile at every runner that she sees and to say hi. It calms people down and changes the race experience.
Don’t let a [test] result (of any kind) measure you. You are not your finishing time in a marathon or how much money you have in a bank account.
What you say to someone else defines you as a person.
With We Finish Together, the medal is a way to get the ribbon to someone, but it’s the words on the ribbon that mean the most.

Right now the organization is doing a children’s literacy outreach program.
They send medals to hospitals, such as to a girl named Ruby. According to the We Finish Together Facebook page, “She received her own medal for strength and courage while battling soft tissue cancer. Since then, Ruby's been paying it forward and handing out medals to her friends at the Children's Hospital of Atlanta.” They use the medals as art therapy!
We Finish Together also sends medals to an organization called Back on My Feet, which “uses running and community to motivate and support individuals every step of the way from homelessness to independence” according to their site.
To start your own We Finish Together fleet, go to the site here.
The second life of th