Inspire Award

About the Inspire Award

Since 2007, Miles for CF has presented this annual award to a person with cystic fibrosis, who has met the challenges of living with the disease and consistently demonstrated the mettle to care for their own health, serve the larger community, and live life to its fullest.

2019 Recipient: Nolan Gottlieb

Nolan was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was three months old. In 1982, the life expectancy was less than 20 years. Nevertheless, he began participating in athletics as soon as he could walk. As a child, he loved basketball and dreamed of playing in the NCAA. Even as the disease progressed, he participated in high school basketball and was able to play all four years of college basketball at Anderson University (an NCAA program). Nolan was even awarded a basketball scholarship in his senior season. He has always encouraged others to follow their dreams.

Recently, Nolan required a bilateral lung transplant. In June 2018, he received this surgery at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Before his transplant, Nolan was not a runner due to his lack of ability and interest in the sport. Since surgery, however, he has participated in over a dozen races and even completed a triathlon -- 13 minutes under his goal time! A strong advocate for organ donation, Nolan has used many of his races as a platform for raising awareness about the need for donors.

Nolan and his wife, Maggie, love to travel. During the summer of 2019, they traveled “from Colorado to Canada and everywhere in between.” With his new lungs, Nolan enjoys being able to hike or run almost every day, including at high mountain altitudes. He knows being active helps his new lungs stay strong.