Weekend Reekap – Early Run & Good Cause

On Saturday the Disney Dopey Challenge Training Schedule called for 13 miles.  I had three groups of friends who were running different distances at different times, I wish I could’ve run with all of them, but my time was limited that day.  So I chose the group that was meeting at 5am.  Ugh.  3:45 alarm.  Ugh.  I told them that the same roads are out there at 7 am, but they didn’t care.  And I had no choice anyway, as I needed to be somewhere by 8am.  13 windy, chilly miles done with some buds.

On Sunday, the sched called for cross training.  I went to yoga, which I’m so glad that I did.  Afterwards, I went and met some friends who were helping another friend finish a run.

At the mile 27 station.

Here’s the lowdown.  My bud’s dad committed suicide several years ago around this time of year.  So he does several events to get the word out about fighting depression.  One of the things is an unofficial 30 mile run.  He does this with little to no run training.  He want’s it to be a challenge that he proves he can overcome, just like he believes others can overcome their own challenges.

Hey, there’s me (on the right)! I know him!

A handful of people run the entire way with him.  The majority of us join him for short stretches of the run.  For the past two years, I’ve joined for the final 3ish miles.  And I’m glad to say that he once again made it the entire 30 miles!

At the finish!

He’s also working to start a non profit foundation.  He set up a donation page for the past weekend’s 30 miler.  You can donate here: http://bswarms.com/swarm274

How bout you?  Ever run at any crazy times because you have no other option?  Have you ever gone a run for no other reason than for a good cause?

Run for a Cause #run3rd

So, it’s been a couple weeks since my last bloggy blog, but like I warned in that one – I was out of town, away from computers.  I was in Orlando to run the 20th Disney Marathon.  My head is still swimming from all that happened and I’m still working to consolidate the photos/videos, so I’ll blog about it in the coming days.  In the mean time, I’ll fill you in in an unofficial race I was part of right before I left on the trip.

My buddy Coach Oscar runs for a cause.  His father committed suicide a while back.  Since then, he has set up some fundraisers to fight depression.  One is a race in the Palo Duro Canyon: http://www.palodurohotdog.com/  I hope to be able to run in it this summer.  Another is a non profit he’s organizing called Live Every Day, it’s aimed to serve Depression Awareness and Suicide Prevention.  It’s not up and running yet, but if you want to donate to this cause in the mean time, here’s some instruction:  http://bswarms.com/swarm158

Anywhoodle, to help raise funds to launch the non profit, he decided to run 30 miles.  Here’s the redonk map:

I told you it’s redonk.

To get this done, he needed help.  He’s not a big time runner.  He runs 5k’s mostly.  So a bunch of us helped him along the way.  We did this by running portions of the trail with him, by providing sustenance, and general support.

Here’s a group of his athletic supporters.

I was able to join in the last 4 miles.  He was hurting, but got it done.  Here’s a video of the finish:

That’s it.  One dude with a cause, workin to make it work.  I was glad to be a part of it and hope to be more involved in the future.  But it’s good to keep in mind that no matter what race you run, official or not, it most likely has a cause behind it.  Some deserving charity is hopefully benefiting from your participation.  When you prepare for your next race, take a few moments to learn about the beneficiary, and take some time to think of them during the event.

If you’re not aware, actor and runner Sean Astin has a twitter hashtag and web page about running for others.  It’s this: http://run3rd.blogspot.com/ Basically, you run first for yourself, second for your family, and third for a cause of your choosing.  Try to figure out who you #run3rd for, it will make the miles more meaningful.  After all, it ain’t all about you son!

Haha, keep it up kiddos. Peace!