Jamie Shinneman wanted to his wife Amy to feel what he feels when he runs.
Amy has weak muscles because of a form of muscular dystrophy. She walks with a limp and needs mobility devices for longer distances.
Jamie pushes his wife on a duo bike while running marathons. The Noblesville couple, who both graduated from Noblesville High School, competed in the Chicago Marathon in October 2019 and also competed in the New York Marathon last year.
Now, the couple will do their third marathon together at the Nov. 5 Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis.
“We’re calling this our hometown marathon,” Amy said.
Amy is one of two Muscular Dystrophy Association national ambassadors for 2022. She was born with a condition called Bethlem myopathy, which is a type of muscular dystrophy. She was born with the disease, but it wasn’t officially diagnosed until later in life.
“We’re still running for MDA, but we created a team called Team Humbly Courageous, which is the name of my blog,” Amy said. “Now, we’re at 31 team members that have joined and we still have people. We have a big group represented. It’s going to be fun to run with family and friends and bring our community into this. Both of our sons are doing the half-marathon.”
Luke, who competed in cross country and track and field at Noblesville High School, is now a freshman at Purdue University. Their younger son, Jack, is a sophomore NHS cross country member.
“A lot of Jack’s teammates have joined our team, too,” Amy said.
Amy said the goal is to raise $10,000. As of Oct. 17, they have raised approximately $4,700. When they train on Sundays, Amy posts on her social media accounts.
In her role as national ambassador, Amy spoke at the MDA Clinical and Scientific Conference in Nashville, Tenn.
“It was a chance to share the story with doctors and scientists,” she said.
She will speak Oct. 28 at the MDA Gala in Chicago.
“That will be for donors, just sharing the story with the cause,” she said.
To donate for Team Humbly Courageous, visit mda.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=15348
