Erich Mische, former chief of staff to Norm Coleman, plans to walk the concourse of the Xcel Energy Center 300 times (totaling 70 miles) in celebration of Coleman’s 70th birthday and to benefit the families of cancer patients.
Mische announced last week that he will be hosting a “70 Miles for 70 Years” event from August 16 to 17.
“Throughout the walk I hope to document our conversations as we share our own experiences in working with Norm over the past 26 years—or perhaps even longer than that,” Mische said. “This walk is also an opportunity for us to share the stories of other families who have been faced with a medical crisis just like Norm. Families in the fight against cancer—struggling to deal with a devastating illness—battling to overcome the effects of a chronic disease—or waiting to bring a baby home after a premature birth.”
The walk will begin at 7 a.m. August 16 and end at noon on August 17. All the proceeds from the walk will benefit Spare Key families, a charitable organization started by Mische that helps connect families to donors through its helpmebounce.org platform.
“I’ve run seven marathons before, but I’ve never actually walked 70 miles before at one time. I’m either going to end up with a pair of shoes that lean in one direction or I’m going to be really dizzy,” Mische told the Pioneer Press.
“As (Coleman) told me when I told him I was going to do it, he said, ‘You’re insane.’ I’ve known him long enough to know most of the time when he says that, it’s a term of endearment,” he added.
The Xcel Energy Center was selected as the location for the walk because of Coleman’s instrumental role in bringing the venue to St. Paul, which in turn brought professional hockey back to the state.
Coleman announced in early July that his cancer had returned. To treat it, Coleman underwent a surgery that removed about a quarter of his lungs.
“Unfortunately, there is now within my lungs cancer which has decided to make itself immune from the treatment I undertook several months ago when doctors focused radiation in an attempt to kill the best. I can say that they punched the hell out of it but there’s nothing faint of heart about this beast that is my cancer,” Coleman wrote in a Facebook update.
He was treated at Mayo Clinic and later shared that his doctors “successfully removed the lower left lobe, and all traces of visible cancer.”
“I remain grateful for the continued prayers and support of friends, families and strangers. Battling cancer is a race without a finish line—but I am blessed to be on this journey accompanied with an abundance of goodness in my life,” Coleman said.
Coleman remains active in politics and law, but ominously shared that “the arrows in the quiver are getting a little thin.”
“This week I start on immunotherapy at Mayo. I’m hoping it’s more than just a Hail Mary,” he wrote on August 12. “But the bottom line is I’m keeping the faith and confident we can tame the beast.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “70 Miles for 70 Years” by Norm Coleman.
