By: Danny Aller
If you didn’t already know YLD member Katie Coxe Fackler of Jacksonville, the name is about to be one you won’t soon forget.
Katie, a bankruptcy attorney with Akerman and member of the Business Law Section of the Florida Bar, hasn’t just bought into the YLD’s call for health and wellness in the legal profession — she’s gone above and beyond.WAY above and beyond.
On Saturday, January 25, 2020, Katie did something that we can only describe as incredible: she won — nay, dominated — The Wolfson Children’s Challenge 55K to support Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville.
Katie’s finishing time in the 34.1-mile race was 4 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds — which is a blistering pace of 7 minutes and 28 seconds per mile. And she actually got faster as the race went on, with an opening lap time of 25:22 and a final lap time of 21:08. (To put in perspective just how fast Katie is, she recently ran the Ameris Bank Jacksonville Marathon in only 2 hours and 53 minutes for a pace of 6 minutes, 36 seconds per mile — which is only 8 minutes off Olympic trial time of 2:45!)
Why would someone subject themselves to such a demanding task? Well, Katie was running with a purpose — a BIG purpose: raising money for her dear friend Amy Mitchell and her youngest son George, who was diagnosed with Severe Congenital Neutropenia at 5 weeks old. The only cure is a bone marrow transplant and Katie set out to raise $1,000 for the Mitchells on Saturday.
Instead, she raised over $2,000, which will help pay for the care George is receiving at Wolfson’s. The best news of all, however, is that George’s big sister Kate was his “perfect match,” and last summer, Kate donated her marrow to George to help put him on the path to recovery.
The photo below is from the post-race and shows Katie with her husband Michael Fackler, a partner at Milam Howard Nicandri Dees & Gillam, P.A., and their sons Will and Teddy, sister Anne Coxe Mesrobian, an associate in Gunster’s Jacksonville office, and mom Mary Cousar Coxe, a sole practitioner.
And if Katie’s last name sounds familiar, her father Hank Coxe (not pictured), is a Past Florida Bar President!
We couldn’t be more proud of Katie and all she’s doing. You ROCK, Katie!