My name is Roman Coloma and I live in California (aka ‘The Golden State’). I am a 54-year old who enjoys participating in 5K and 10K trail races. I would describe myself as a ‘back of the pack’ trail runner. I participate neither for time nor age-group medals. I participate to enjoy the natural landscapes a trail course provides and to experience the satisfaction of crossing the finish line. Participating in such races allows me to socialize with my trail running friends and enjoy the post-race treats.

I have been participating in Hospice of the Valleys’ running events for the last five years beginning with the Hospice Virtual Six Mile Race in 2020. While I was initially unsure if I could participate since I lived on the other side of the world with no connection to Wales whatsoever, Amanda put my doubts to rest when she told me that I was more than welcome to participate. She was so helpful in walking me through the registration process since this was my first international virtual event. Looking back, the Hospice Virtual Six Mile Race was my first ever virtual event. My focus at the time was to alleviate the stress brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, see how much weight I could lose through walking and establish benchmark walking times in the 5K, 10K and 20K events.

Since that first race I have virtually participated in Hospice-sponsored running events. I found The Hospice Virtual Six Mile Race one of my ‘must do’ events for the year. Since we in the United States do not use the metric system (sad, I know) it is easier for me to visualize six miles than ten kilometers. I have also enjoyed participating in the Hospice Go The Extra Mile, Virtual Half Marathon in 2021 and the Virtual Chase the Christmas Pudding Events.

As my continued participation was originally attributed to health and fitness reasons, things changed last year when a dear family friend, Dave entered hospice care at a dedicated facility. It is at this time that I learned the importance of hospice care in a community. Each time my father and I visited our friend Dave, we were amazed how the staff worked collaboratively to care for him. We were grateful that each staff person who cared for our friend did so compassionately and with his comfort in mind. Moreover, the hospice staff also provided support and guidance to his wife. While it was difficult for my father and I to see our friend succumb so quickly from his illness, we knew the hospice staff did everything possible to ensure his comfort while he was still with us.

These two experiences are the reasons I continue to virtually participate in the annual Six-Mile Race from the other side of the world. Even though my race calendar is filled with in-person 5K and 10K trail races around the San Francisco Bay Area, the virtual Six-Mile Race provides me an opportunity to cover six miles against the clock at a time and manner of my choosing. More importantly the Six-Mile Race is my opportunity to support Hospice of the Valleys in its mission. After seeing first-hand the importance of hospice care to a community, the Hospice’s mission is one that I continue to support from eight time zones away!!!