NOTE: For Challenging/Conquering the Canyon for Cancer event details scroll all the way down, you won't be disappointed!

 Special Note: I've been asked by various organizations to do a talk about our backpacking story, "Challenging the Canyon for Cancer", hiking/backpacking basics and hiking as a stress relief.

Since this first speaking engagement, I've been asked to speak 4-6 more times this year! God has truly blessed me.

The 2011 schedule is as follows:

Medina Library; Saturday January 29, 2011 at 2:00 PM.

   We had a turnout of 40 people! Call the library to request this again at 330-725-0588 this Summer or Fall.

A "Sage" Home Inspection,LLC
"A Wise, Prudent Investment for Your Next Home"
Phone: (330) 667-ASHI (2744)
  Email: Inspections@ASHI.BIZ 

 Buying a new home may be the biggest investment you'll ever make.

Although the process is very exciting, it quickly becomes overwhelming. While the home you have selected may appear to be just what you're looking for, how can you be sure there aren't potentially serious, unknown defects which can make your investment in your future a costly one?
   Having your new home professionally inspected by our company as early as possible in the buying process can save you thousands of dollars on items which you may be able to have the seller or builder correct.
      

Our company is dedicated to providing you with valuable information about your new home. We thoroughly inspect all major components of the subject property to expose unknown defects and advise you about future maintenance for your home. Our company will give you the information you require to make an informed decision.

   We perform prepurchase, prelisting and preservation inspections.

Whether you are buying, selling, or would like to preserve the value of your home, we will be happy to speak with you.

Local home inspector Russ Sage and his stepson Matt Pickering, a chef from Colorado are ready for an incredible challenge to help save lives!

Summer 2009
 

It’s amazing how life’s most horrible and gut-wrenching challenges can lead to blessings down the road.  Imagine being diagnosed with cancer just months after getting married.  The happiest and most promising time of your life turns into the scariest.

This is the story I lived through as my wife found a lump on her breast just six months after our wedding day.  This led to the toughest year of our married life. 

We are so thankful that she beat it and is now an 11 year breast cancer survivor.  Over the past several years we have dedicated much of our time and efforts with various events to support breast cancer awareness and finding a cure.  After last year’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, I decided to do something more…something “grander.”

So in lieu of the Cleveland Race for the Cure this September, my stepson and I will be Challenging the Canyon for Cancer – a 3-day, 21 mile backpacking trip across the Grand Canyon!   

We will start at the North Rim, hike down through the canyon,  across the Colorado River, and finally venture up the South Rim three days later.  It will be a grueling journey, and we have been training for several months, but this is nothing compared to what breast cancer patients go through during their journey!

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is giving this Challenge their blessing and full support. 

   
And Thank You in advance for helping us find a cure!

Russ Sage 
P.O. Box 1104
Medina, OH 44258-1104

Thank You and may God Bless you and your family,

Russ Sage

A "Sage” Home Inspection, llc                                                                
"A Wise, Prudent Investment for Your Next Home"                              
Phone: 330-667-ASHI (2744)                                                             
Inspections@ashi.biz
WWW.ASHI.BIZ

Challenging the Canyon for Cancer Partial Sponsor List:

Sandy Sage my wife, my best friend and my biggest supporter in life & business!!!
Jim Cermak, Cermak Marketing jim@cermakmarketing.com   www.cermakmarketing.com
Bob Harris, “In The Game Speed and Agility Training”  330-635-6234
Gloria Slaga, Mary Kay Cosmetics 330-225-723
   gspinkwrld@aol.com   www.marykay.com/slaga
Mike Schmidt, Prudential Kovack Realtors 330-662-0183                  
   mschmidtim@aol.com   www.prudentialkovack.com
Fin, Feather & Fur Outfitters 419-281-2557
   www.finfeatherfuroutfitters.com
JMG Coaching, Business and Life Coach, Janet M. Goodman, 216-595-1455
   janet@jmgcoaching.com

Conquered the Canyon for Cancer!!!

   The first two words that come to mind after backpacking rim to rim (or R2R) of the Grand Canyon are “God’s Grandeur”!
                                   
                  North Rim                                                        Grand Canyon Pink Rattlesnake
                                                                                        Pink! How fitting for our R2R                                                                                                for breast cancer!
This backpacking trip was no walk in the park. It’s a grueling three days in the wilderness and everything you need is on your back. I knew that going into this, that’s why I started training in early February. But again I have to emphasize, this is nothing compared to what a cancer patient goes through. I held onto that thought as my stepson, Matt, and I trekked the 23 miles, tended to my blisters, aches and pains. I now have three new best friends. Ibuprofen, medical adhesive tape and duck tape!  

  Duck Brand Tape to cover the blisters
   I guess I should back up a bit, as a professional home inspector, my business slows a bit during the Winter, so with too much time to think, I came up with, “Challenging the Canyon for Cancer”. I ran the idea past Matt, a chef from Colorado, and he was on board. Having done some smaller hikes in the canyon himself, he was a great choice. We trained, read books, read blogs, searched the internet and compared notes. I knew we couldn’t go into this half heartedly.                                                                              

   I went out West a couple of days earlier to acclimate my body to the higher elevation. The day before we were to start, my wife (a 12 year survivor of breast cancer) called back home to check on a friend battling brain cancer. She spoke to our church, Cornerstone Chapel, and was given the sad news. Jack Santora went home to be with the Lord the previous day. As we ate our final meal before embarking on our grand challenge, a somber mood was felt.

   Jack was one of my supporters as I trained at the Whipps Ledges near his home in Hinckley, I often stopped to see him after a hike.

    Training at the Ledges
We had coffee, talked about guy stuff and God. We both had a background in amateur bodybuilding and understood what it meant to train hard for a goal. If I had a bad day during training or injured myself, I thought of Jack and his ultimate fight against cancer. I was doing this not only for breast cancer, but for all cancers! That night I made a list of people that had touched me in some way during my training. I took those names and penned them on my forearm. Why you ask?  Because if my spirits flagged during the challenge, all I had to do was to look down at my forearm. The names were: God, my wife Sandy, Alyssa my daughter, Mom, Jack, Pastor Jeff & Ken an elder at our church.

                                       Views of my forearm the day of the hike 

 The next day we started at dawn at the North Kaibab trailhead on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

  Early A.M. Start of our Grand Canyon Challenge

For three days we backpacked with all of the things we needed on our back. I have to say it was pretty grueling. We started off at 8500 ft. and 24 degrees wind chill. At the bottom of the canyon it was 95 degrees! And the last day was the hardest, 9.3 miles mainly up the other side from 2000 ft. to 6800 ft. I think I consumed about 7000 calories and drank a ton of water and electrolyte solution that day.

Down, across the Colorado River and up the Bright Angel Trail to the South Rim. 23 miles total. My thoughts wandered and an analogy struck me. The down portion is like the cancer diagnosis. The across portion is the cancer treatment phase. And the up part is like the rise as one beats cancer. Some we know don’t beat this terrible disease, but they go home to be with God. But they touched our hearts and lives, we then carry the torch for them.    

    The Grand Canyon Challenge born from a thought, blossomed into a full blown event with many family, friends and Medina County members participating to help make it a great success. We raised about $1000 even in this down economy. We’ve been asked, “...will you do it again?”  And, “...can we come next time?” We are entertaining the idea of doing this “Grand Challenge” again in the Fall of 2011. Susan G. Komen will once again back/support us and I’m having ongoing talks with The American Cancer Society (ACS) as well. We will have meetings for anyone interested in taking part in this event with us next time, so email me. See my company website for more pictures of this years and a link to email me if you’re interested in the future possibilities.

Regards,

Russ Sage

www.ashi.biz

inspections@ashi.biz

 Special Note: I've been asked by the Medina County Public Library to do a talk about our backpacking story, hiking/backpacking basics and hiking as a stress relief. This will be Saturday January 29, 2011 at 2:00 PM. Please call library to register @ 330-725-0588
Also I'm now a volunteer at the Medina County Park District as a leader and co-leader of hikes in Medina and surrounding counties through a program called "Hiking for the Health of it". See http://www.medinacountyparks.com/  for a list of upcoming hikes and come join us!