Over the Edge for Brain Cancer

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in a once in a lifetime adventure. I took part in a two-day fundraising event called Over the Edge for Brian Cancer put on by Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure where "Edgers" would rappel 365 feet down the side of the Manchester Grand Hyatt, the tallest hotel on the waterfront in San Diego. I first heard about the event on facebook and thought that it looked terrifying and wasn't something I would ever want to do. 

About a month before the event though, the organizers of the event reached out to me to see if I'd be interested in participating, and after some encouragement from a fellow brain cancer friend who was also participating, I figured what the hell, I'd do it!

Manchester Grand Hyatt

I was worried about fundraising for the event since I had just finished fundraising for the Long Beach Marathon (Marathon #20!!) to raise money for my neurooncologist's research lab, but thanks to the generosity of family, friends, and others, I surpassed my $1000 fundraising goal! 

Geared up to Rappel

The majority of Edgers were going over the edge on Sunday, but I was fortunate enough to be invited to Media Day on Saturday where a smaller group of people, including my neurosurgeon, would be rappelling down and giving interviews. 

Pre-Rappel Interview

I was so, so nervous leading up to the event. I'm afraid of heights, totally not an adventurous person, and I have a neurotic irrational fear of metal failure. (Thank you Strength of Materials lab in undergrad.) The closet thing I've done to facing my fear of heights has been to go down a big zip line and to take a trapeze class. Both almost made my heart stop with fear as I felt that plummeting sensation in the pit of my stomach, but both activities ended up being fun. With that in mind, I tried to tell myself that this rappelling event would be fun as well. 

Final Preparations

After a quick one-story practice rappel about 10 feet off the ground, we were ready to rappel 30 stories down the side of the Hyatt. David was able to come up to the starting level with me and it was great to have him around for moral support. My rappelling partner BethAnn (fellow marathoner and a badass Kona Ironman athlete) was also giving me pep talks and trying to convince me that we were going to have a great time.

Going Over the Edge

Before starting the descent from the top the people working the event went over the instructions one more time and assured us that we were safe, we wouldn't be able to fall more than a few inches quickly before the safety locked up, and made us feel comfortable that we had a team of people watching out for us at the top and bottom of the ropes.

Making My Way Down

The hardest part of the event for me was trusting the ropes and safety system, and facing my fears and rappelling the first few inches down. I was terrified of looking down and was afraid I would freak out if I did, so I kept my eyes on the wall and the ropes almost the whole way down. I didn't dare peek out at the spectators on the ground until I was about 3/4 of the way down.

Rappelling With BethAnn

When I finally got down to the bottom I couldn't believe I did it! It actually wasn't as scary as I thought it would be, most likely because I didn't look down or around when I was too high up. It was pretty fun rappelling down and I'm so glad that I faced my fears and went for it!

We Did It!

In addition to David coming to watch I had a whole support crew of Team Mokie friends, some even in tutu!

My Support Crew

I also had a chance to chat with my neurosurgeon for a minute and get a picture with him. He performed my surgery a little over a year ago and I'm sure he's seen a hundred patients since then, but when I started talking to him and said "You probably don't remember me..." he immediately said "Of course I do!" Hopefully its not because I made such a big deal over how much hair they shaved off for the surgery!

Post Rappel With My Neurosurgeon

In the evening after I rappelled there was a Liquid Courage reception for Edgers going over on Saturday and Sunday that David and I attended at the hotel. We had a chance to talk to more participants in the event as well as the organizers, and decided to come back the next day to watch a Stupid Cancer friend of mine go over as well.

Liquid Courage Reception

Melanie Rappelled on Sunday

On Sunday I was also treated with an unexpected surprised - I made the 2nd page of the Sunday paper! The San Diego Union Tribune published a full page article about the event and not only did my poorly worded quote make it into the paper, a picture of BethAnn and I rappelling made the print edition as well. You can view the online version of the article here. 

2nd Page of the Union Tribune

I also made the event highlight reel (giving a quote stumbling over my words in poor English... oops! I need a speech coach or something...) and also put together my own video of the event including footage from the GoPro camera that I had attached to my helmet. (Thank you Jeanie for lending it to me!)

Video of My Rappelling Experience


Event Highlight Reel
(My awkwardness is around the 3:00 mark)
 

Although I exceeded my fundraising goal of $1000 it's not too late to help me go further over that amount! If you'd like to contribute to my fundraising you can do so here.

I'm so glad that I participated in this event and it taught me once again to face my fears, try something new, and surprise myself with what I'm capable of.