In the long run, my friend Pete is the true winner in life
By: Doug Maceachern
Appeared in the Arizona Republic
Jan. 14, 2007 12:00 AM

Somewhere in the sea of 39,000 runners in the P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon races today will be the bravest, most selfless guy I've ever known.

If you're out there, look for him. The truth is, Peter Dingeman is not difficult to pick out of a crowd. The disease that has plagued Pete for as long as I have known him, over 40 years, has disfigured the side of his face a bit.

Well, more than a bit. He has endured more than 24 surgeries in his lifetime to fight the effects of neurofibromatosis, or NF, as it's known, and the NF tumors have been cruel to the side of Pete's face. In one of the more recent surgeries, doctors drilled holes in his skull and sewed his eyelid to the bone to keep it from drooping. It worked OK for a while.

We used to confuse NF with "elephant man's disease," which produced the terrible deformities and tumors that made poor, tortured Joseph Merrick such a "celebrity" in 19th-century England.

The two are related but not the same. The tumors produced by NF aren't always visible. The terrible things it does to kids are, more often than not, hidden under the skin. Brain and spinal tumors, for example, that cause scoliosis and learning disabilities. In a way, NF actually is the more insidious of the two illnesses because it is far more pervasive. One in every 3,000 children is born with the NF gene. Like Pete. And like Pete's 22-year-old son, Josh, who along with Pete's wife, Chris, has traveled from their home in Shelby Township, Mich., to take part in our marathon.

"I was focused to find a treatment so (Josh) would not have to go through all I did, with the surgeries and everything," Pete told me late last week.

"I could handle it myself. It's no big deal for me. But others . . . they've lost limbs and gone blind from it."

Ever since Pete discovered the Michigan chapter of the Children's Tumor Foundation, the organization devoted to finding cures for NF, he has been active in it. For his son. And for all the other kids who must endure it.

The magical thing about Pete is that if you met him, and I truly hope you do, you would quickly come to see what I've known for so many years. This is not a "guy with a cruel disease." This is a guy with heart. A guy who leaves the distinct impression that despite all the cruelties life has thrown his way, he has spent, oh, maybe a minute or two feeling sorry for himself. And I'm probably exaggerating Pete's lifetime self-pity meter, at that.

I asked another lifelong friend, Jim Martin of Atlanta, about Pete. Unlike me, Jim has kept in regular contact with Pete since high school: "If we only get five or six real friends in this life, the kind you're privileged to know, the kind of friend that can't help but make you a better person for their friendship, then I'm pretty lucky, because I count Peter as one of my five or six."

In high school in Michigan, Pete humiliated the school yearbook team, including me, by personally selling virtually the entirety of our yearbook ads. He won a trip to New York City for his efforts, as I remember. He sent his parents.

Now, he works "throwing steel around" in a warehouse in Oak Park, Mich. It keeps him fit, he says, but not for running marathons.

So he started training last July. One mile a day during the week became, after a time, five miles. Then six. In the fall, his water bottle would turn to slush during his early-morning training. But he kept at it, losing over 40 pounds. And today he's here. In the race. Running for his son and all the thousands of kids with NF.

"We're honored to have him on our team," said Steve Kendra, director of the marathon-running team for the Children's Tumor Foundation, which has brought 100 runners to today's race. "He's way more than ready."

Yes, Pete is way more than ready to work his heart out for others. He always was.

Reach the author at doug.maceachern@arizonarepublic.com or (602) 444-8883.

The P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & 1/2 Marathon is one of the biggest fund-raising events for the Children's Tumor Foundation.
Donations can be sent to the group by visiting its Web site, www.ctf.org. You can also call the foundation directly at 1-800-323-7938.

WEBMASTERS NOTE: I couldn't agree more! Pete is one of a kind and I'm honored to have him as a friend.~Darryl Chene