Wow, I guess it took until late November, but I finally figured out what gets people excited — me wearing pink!
Real quick, just in case you’ve never been here before, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I want him to be able to make a difference in this world, so I’m attempting to run 61 marathons in his honor this year to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism.
So far, I’m through 54 of the 61. I wouldn’t have done this if not for him. So if this makes a difference, he made a difference.
Anyways, I’ve been fundraising for a charity called Hearts & Smiles for about a month now. It’s a great charity that helps the siblings of special needs children in low-income families in the Philadelphia area. It’s been tough, but through Tuesday, I gradually worked my way up to $210 in donations. On Tuesday, I went with a guest blog from the founder of the organization, Melissa Scarcelli.
That blog was really nice and told all about how she founded the organization, why she started it, plus the types of things they’ve been able to do. In two days, we went from $210 to something like $240. My goal was $1,000. Melissa was nice enough to make that an optional goal, so there was no penalty if I didn’t hit it, but I still wanted to get there.
So yesterday, I told y’all that if I hit that goal, I’d wear pink armwarmers in the race on Sunday. And sure enough, you came through! I wish I would have known that me wearing pink was the key to fundraising. I would have jumped on that train a long, long time ago! When I dropped off Jack at school this morning, I was talking about this to another dad, who told me I needed to wear all pink for a race.
As I told him, everything is for sale. But that would cost a LOT of money! The price tag on just the armwarmers was $1,000!
I called Melissa up to let her know we hit the goal and she was really excited. I’ve done a lot to help Train 4 Autism, and I’m still pushing forward. But it’s nice to do a little bit here and there for other good organizations, too. We’ve raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and now Hearts & Smiles. It’s nice to help and you’re the ones who have come up with the money. All I’m doing is running. So thank you for what you’ve done!
Can Somebody Do A Rain Dance?
My 9-year-old son Benjamin’s soccer team is playing in the championship game of the playoffs on Saturday. I’m going to be in Philadelphia. BUT, if it rains, the game will be played on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. And I’m going to be in California those days. The forecast for Saturday is for rain!
So, if you have the ability to do a rain dance, please do! I really, really, really want to see Ben’s soccer game!
Two Repeats From Yesterday
1. My wife had surgery Wednesday — an outpatient procedure on her leg. She’s totally fine. I was in there with her until they started the procedure. The doctor came in and asked me if I had any questions. Yeah, I did.
“Are you a real doctor?”
“No, I just play one on TV,” he told me. I told him that was good enough for me and I trusted him.
When he was done, he came out and got me and told me everything went fine and she was doing well. He told me didn’t have a lot of time to talk, though. He said he had to get back to the studio to finish the commercial shoot.
“That’s cool,” I told him. “That’s where the money’s at.”
I guess even when I’m grumpy, I still have my bad jokes.
2. Registration is open for the Operation Jack Marathon, the 61st and final marathon I’m going to be running this year. It’s a race we’re putting on and it should be a good time. If you’re not going to be in the area, check out the satellite run option we have.
Either register or tell me your excuse!
OK, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend, everybody! I’ll see you back here with a race report on Sunday!