Costco Connection - January 2012

kıng

FOUR TIMES in his 30s and 40s, Costco member Marshall Ulrich ran and won the infamous Badwater Ultramarathon—a 146-mile course that starts below sea level and concludes at 14,500 feet, on the peak of Mount Whitney.

To mark his 50th birthday in 2001, Ulrich ran across Death Valley four times in a row—nearly 600 miles—crossing the scorching desert and going up and down Mount Whitney to raise money for orphans.

In his 50s, he ascended all Seven Summits (the highest mountain on each continent), including reaching the top of Mount Everest in 2004.

In 2008, Ulrich ran from San Francisco to New York City, a distance of 3,063 miles, averaging about 60 miles a day for 52 days straight, setting two new records and completing the third-fastest trans-American crossing in history. He was 57 years old.

Last summer, for his 60th birthday, he ran the Badwater Ultramarathon again, and then headed directly to the Alps, where he summited ;ve peaks over 13,000 feet.

When asked why he continues to take
on new challenges, Ulrich says simply that
it is to reveal that the human body and the
will to endure are miraculous indeed, and
that there is no such thing as “too old,”
“too far” or “too dif;cult.”
Ulrich’s story is chronicled in Running
on Empty: An Ultramarathoner’s Story of
Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run
Across America (Avery, 2011; www.
marshallulrich.com), which is available at
select Costco locations.—T. Foster Jones

106 ;e Costco Connection JANUARY 2012 IF YOU HAVE A NOTE, photo or story to share about Costco or Costco members, email it to connection@costco.com with “The Member Connection” in the subject line or send it to “The Member Connection,” The Costco Connection, P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-1088. Submissions cannot be acknowledged or returned. We want to hear from you!

Putting a face on cancer Shannon Miller

OLYMPIC GYMNAST Shannon Miller thought
her 15-year journey to winning two silver and
three bronze medals in 1992 and two gold
medals in 1996 was the biggest challenge
she’d ever face. That was before December
2010, when she was diagnosed with ovarian
cancer. “It really stops your world,” she says.
“It doesn’t care how old you are or how
many gold medals you’ve won.”
Miller, then 33, had a cyst removed
and started chemotherapy, chronicling her
cancer journey on her blog. The response to
her story led to Miller being contacted by the
organization Look Good … Feel Better (LGFB;
www.lookgoodfeelbetter.org). A collabora-
tion among the Personal Care Products
Council Foundation, Professional Beauty
Association/National Cosmetology Associa-
tion and the American Cancer Society, LGFB,
run by Costco members Louanne Roark and
Steve Sleeper, conducts beauty workshops
for cancer patients.

“Our website has all of the self-help
information available, plus offers virtual
workshops, beauty expert columns and
access to the InStyle.com makeover tool for
patients to try on new looks and styles
virtually by using their own scanned photos,”
says Roark.

LGFB, which began in 1988, contributes
product samples and teaches patients to
use cosmetics to restore their appearance in
the face of chemotherapy. “Cancer patients
undergoing chemo experience changes in
their skin and hair loss,” which includes
eyebrows and eyelashes, says Miller. “You
look in the mirror every day and see a
cancer patient.”
LGFB ran a workshop to help Miller and
other cancer patients bring color back to
their faces and to ;nd products that worked
with their sensitivities, and taught them to tie
head scarves. Miller says the workshop gave
her the sense that she was a person again,
not just a cancer patient. “It was two hours
of mostly laughter and learning,” says Miller,
a Costco member. She had worn makeup for
media appearances but didn’t know how to
apply makeup after chemotherapy.

“I needed false eyelashes for certain ;lming. I had no eyelashes,” she says.

—Maria Bellos Fisher

Life-changer

HEATHER KARBOWSKY

Refusing to accept what at that time
looked like a dismal fate, I embarked
on a self-prescribed diet and exercise
regimen. A key component was to switch
to primarily natural and organic foods.
Costco was there to save me. ;e selection
of products in these categories was not only
extensive, but also a;ordable. Every week,
I came and loaded up my cart.

Within 10 months, I was free from all previous ailments, had stopped taking any medication and lost 85 pounds. Physicians were stunned—the mass had completely disappeared.

COSTCO HELPED save my life. In May

2006, I was admitted to the Mayo Clinic.

I had been losing a 39-month battle with a life-threatening condition in which my body appeared to be allergic to itself. ;ree days a;er arriving at the clinic, I was told I had a large mass in my chest. I weighed 250 pounds … and I was 32 years old.

I was given a bu;et of medications and discussed possible thoracic surgery.

Today, I have fully committed myself to helping others make these lifestyle changes ( www.joshneimark.com). I frequently take those I coach to Costco and teach them how to shop. Not one of them has ever been disappointed by the quality or value found in your natural and organic selections—nearly every aisle contains these o;erings.