Dear [fname],

Berlin Marathon Update: – I am happy to report that I finished the Berlin marathon, at age 72, on September 28th in a time of 4 hours and 38 minutes [38th out of 107 in my age group]. It was a unique experience running a marathon with 45,000 runners from around the world and over 1 million people cheering you on throughout the race. The weather at the start of the race was what you want for a marathon, cool with no rain, although it warmed up quite a bit near the end of the race. My starting block had the most runners, and by the time I got there, I ended up in the center of the block surrounded by hundreds of runners. Once I entered my block I was unable to move and had to stay in my position until the runners ahead of me started moving. It took me 17 minutes to reach the start of the race and then I spent the first 3 miles trying to find a spot where I could run without bumping into runners. At the halfway point my time was 2:12, which is a 10:00 min/mile pace and a projected 4:24 marathon – my personal goal was 4:30. The 2nd half of the marathon I had a much tougher time maintaining my pace because I had to spend more time, and energy, each mile to run around people to find an open space to run. I was on pace for a 4:24 marathon up to mile 23 where my 72 year old body ran out of gas and I hit the “dreaded wall”. The last 3.219 miles took me forever to run but it was a great feeling running under the Brandenburg Gate and finally crossing the finish line. When I checked my Garmin GPS watch at the finish line I found out that I actually ran 26.69 miles which means that I ran about ½ mile more because I had to run around people throughout the race to find running room.

While in Berlin I had the privilege of making some new friends from around the world - Marina [Texas], Rico [Texas], William and Stephanie [Singapore], Eileen and Alex [San Diego], Roberto [Costa Rica], Christopher [Denmark], Claude [France], Dave and Jim [England], Joe [Boston], and Cliff [Marathon Tours].

If you would like to see my Berlin photos and learn about my trip to Berlin just go to my website www.bobrebello.com and click on Photos and Blog.

As of this date we have raised $5,603.00 for the Berlin marathon, which brings our 10-year total, raised for kidney cancer research at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in memory of my brother John to $61,726.00. We now only need to raise $3,274.00 over the next 3 months to reach our next important donation milestone of $65,000.00. For your information I have broken down the 2008 Berlin, Germany marathon for kidney cancer research donations by the month they were made.

I hope that you will continue to support me in the fight against kidney cancer by donating to this years Berlin marathon. 100% of all of the donations made will go directly to kidney cancer research as I pay for all of the expenses and do all of the work myself. If your company has a Matching Gifts Program I encourage you to use the Program to help in the fight against kidney cancer. Your generous tax-deductible donation will go to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Biologic Therapy Research Program and will be placed in the Dr. Michael Atkins Kidney Cancer research fund in memory of John Rebello. The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centers Tax ID# is 042-103-881

As you can see from the 1999 to 2008 donation sources we have now brought kidney cancer awareness to 23 US states [green] and 1 foreign country. We recently received a donation from the great state of Nebraska, which brought the total US states that have donated to 23 – thank you to the donor from Nebraska. To help bring awareness to the other 27 US states [Red] and as many foreign countries as possible I would greatly appreciate it if you would forward the newsletter to family, friends, and people you know who live in those states. This is a great opportunity for us to let people throughout the US and around the world know about the efforts that are being made to find a cure for kidney cancer. We are close to coloring all of the New England states green, we only need donations from the states of Maine and Vermont. If you know someone in those states please forward the newsletter to them so that they can become a part of this very worthy cause.

Click here to make a secure donation by Credit Card today. To ensure that 100% of credit card donations go to kidney cancer research I will write a personal check to the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center that will cover the credit card fees for all donations made on line.

Please make check payable to: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Mail to: Bob Rebello
1399 9th Avenue #918
San Diego, CA 92101
On my trip back to San Diego I stopped in Boston to spend time with my daughter Lisa and her husband Steve, and while in Boston, I met with Dr. Michael Atkins to discuss how his kidney cancer research efforts are going. Dr. Atkins wanted me to pass on to you that he and his team of physicians continue to use your generous donations to improve the diagnosis and treatment options for patients with kidney cancer and their efforts are presently focused on the following areas of promising research:

1. Identification of biomarkers in urine and blood to enable detection of disease at an earlier and more treatable stage and more sensitive monitoring of treatment effects.
2. Identification of molecular and immunologic predictors of kidney cancer responsiveness to IL-2 and other therapies enabling us to target treatments to those most likely to benefit.
3. Evaluation of the clinical and biologic effects of novel drugs with potent antitumor and anti-angiogenic properties, administered either alone or in combination, in patients with high risk or advanced kidney cancer.
4. Evaluation of novel vaccine and immunotherapy treatment approaches for patients with advanced kidney cancer.
5. Evaluation of mechanisms of resistance to standard therapies and ways of preventing or delaying its development.

To learn about Doctor Michael B. Atkins kidney cancer research efforts, click here.

Medicept
Medicept sponsors Worldwide Marathon specifically because 100% of the proceeds go to kidney cancer research. Bob Rebello has raised over $61k himself, which is impressive by itself; but to know he donates 100% of his own time and money to cover all expenses including travel and donation credit card fees, is VERY rare in the “charity” world. We’ll continue to donate until he reaches his goal.

Medicept is a Massachusetts based firm focused on medical device development and regulatory consulting. Our clients range from individuals with new ideas to international Fortune 500 companies seeking short-term expert resources. Projects range from short concept generation and due-diligence to extensive multi-year on-site project management, independent product development and even pilot manufacturing. Medicept is not far from Boston, MA but we have done extensive work throughout the US, Europe, Middle East. Asia, and Australia. Contact Steve Woolfson @ (508) 231-8842, ext 13; swoolfson@medicept.com or visit our website www.medicept.com

I would not be able to publish my monthly newsletters without the very creative Graphic design work of Christian Riggs, President of Riggs Creative Group. Christian has not only given his time and design expertise to the newsletter but he also designed and maintains my website.

Listed below are my corporate sponsors who have generously donated their “Best in Class” products and services to help me meet my mission. Without their generous support it would be very difficult for me to continue my mission.

Have a great day,
Bob Rebello