Hello friends and family! I am so honored to run the New York City Marathon with the American Heart Association team in honor of my dad, Jeff Robinson.
As you might know, my dad passed away April 2025 from a massive heart attack. I was 27 years old, and as I was clocking into my job at my local hospital, I got a call from my stepmom that my dad had become unresponsive while getting ready for work. After leaving my work and rushing to the hospital he had been taken to, I found out that my dad had passed away from a massive heart attack. I had just talked to him, and I could not wrap my mind around never talking to him again. My dad was one of my best friends. People whose parents died young used to always be something that happened to other people, not to me. Until of course when this became my reality.
After his death I tried different outlets to deal with my grief, and one of the main ways I have been honoring him is by running. Running has been meditative, a great way to release stress, and I think more than anything my dad would have wanted me to honor him by doing something to help prevent cardiovascular disease. It also sparks memories of when I was in high school and as I was training to run a half marathon, my dad trained with me to run his first ever 5K. So as a run, I run with him on my mind.
I have become obsessed with cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis prevention. Not until his death did I learn that cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the world, and most people don’t even know they have it until they have a major cardiovascular episode like a heart attack or stroke. And in many cases like my dad’s, that is too late. I was furious to learn that there are ultimately no preventative tests done at the doctor that screen for cardiovascular disease. We have routine mammograms, colonoscopies, bone density tests, pap smears, but we don’t have routine CT angiograms or coronary artery calcium scores. Of course doctors test blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but I don’t believe this is enough (especially for the world’s #1 killer!!!!).
Since my dad’s passing, I have paid serious attention to my own cardiovascular disease prevention. Since around the age of 20, I have had high LDL cholesterol, high Apo(B) levels, and high blood pressure. This is something that I never gave enough attention to, and because cardiovascular disease is something that accumulates over decades, I realized that I had to pay this serious attention. I have also gotten many friends and family to pay more serious attention to their own risk factors.
I am so honored to raise money for the American Heart Association while also training for a marathon that will ultimately help my cardiovascular health! I think this is a great way to honor my dad. The American Heart Association is the largest non-profit funding source for cardiovascular research and they also place a huge focus on education, community programs, and removal of barriers to healthcare access. I hope you can donate, but if not, no worries! I just hope that this can at least be a sign to start looking into your own cardiovascular health. Thank you all!
