Honoring family

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Siblings Tammy Corbin and Brian Dill (standing), are shown with their parents, Nita and Randy Dill. Contributed Photo

October 13, 2012

Honoring family

Children run in Chicago Marathon to honor father

Latasha Everson/The Tifton Gazette CNHI The Tifton Gazette Sat Oct 13, 2012, 09:59 PM EDT

TIFTON — A local teacher and her brother recently ran the Chicago Marathon with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training in honor of their father, 70-year-old Randy Dill.

Tammy Corbin, 44, assistant principal at Charles Spencer Elementary School, said she and her brother, Brian Dill, 40, ran the marathon Sunday, Oct. 7. The Chicago Marathon is one of the top five marathons in the world, alongside the Boston Marathon, she stated.

Corbin said she and Brian were a part of a group of 28 who went from Georgia and raised over $95,000 for cancer research. She stated that all 28 Georgians, including herself and Brian, finished the marathon. Over 45,000 runners participated, but only approximately 38,000 finished it, the most that have ever completed the Chicago Marathon, Corbin said. All runners received a medal for finishing the race.

The Chicago Marathon is 26.2 miles total. With this being her first marathon, Corbin’s finishing time was five hours and 58 minutes. She stated that her goal was to complete the marathon in five and a half hours; however, she was determined to keep her time under six hours. She noted that she also lost some weight.

Brian’s time was four hours and 23 minutes, which was a personal best for him. This was his fourth marathon with The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training.

Corbin said, “It’s amazing to see the people out there who participate.”

She said a man in a wheelchair completed the Chicago Marathon in less than two hours, and an Ethiopian ran it in two hours and four minutes, making history as the first Ethiopian to win.

After getting a call from her brother about running the Chicago Marathon, Corbin said she prepared herself by running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta with Brian, and they also did a half marathon with their team.

Although she was at first skeptical about participating in the Chicago Marathon, Corbin stated that it was a “neat” and “awesome” experience, especially since she was doing it for her father.

Dill was diagnosed in April with MDS, a rare blood disorder, which is the same type of blood cancer Robin Roberts from Good Morning America has been diagnosed with. However, Corbin said Dill is not a candidate for a bone marrow transplant. She noted that they lost a cousin, 27-year-old Wesley Howell, to leukemia a few years back.

Dill found out that he had MDS after his blood levels continued to drop and he had to have transfusions. It was determined then that he had MDS. With him having many health issues, he is unable to have a bone marrow transplant. He receives chemotherapy to slow down the progression of the disease, says his wife, Nita Dill.

Dill said he has his good and bad days.

Nita laughed and stated, “He hasn’t lost his sense of humor.”

“That’s what has kept me going. I like to have a little joy around,” Dill said, smiling, noting that he’s well known for his humor.

When asked about how he felt to have both his daughter and son running the Chicago Marathon, Dill stated that it was really humbling to have his two children doing something that extreme on his behalf. He grinned and jokingly stated that he probably could have run 0.2 miles.

Nita said she’s proud of Corbin and Brian as well.

“I’m extremely proud of the accomplishments they made,” she stated.

She and Dill said they were able to keep up with Corbin and Brian’s progress in the race from e-mail alerts that they received on their computer.

Corbin and her parents noted that they held fundraisers for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Brian was the top fundraiser of the team, raising over $5,000.

Dill, who retired from Farm Credit, stated that he had a lot of support from the community. He said he would like to thank people for their prayers and donations.

His message to others is: “Be thankful for today, because you don’t know what’s coming tomorrow.”

Corbin learned from running her first marathon that “anything is possible when you set your mind to it.”

“I never thought I would run a marathon,” she said.

To contact reporter Latasha Everson, call 382-4321.

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