Four years ago, I wanted to do something to make the world a better place. I liked running and I was doing it pretty well, and I was heartbroken that my son Jack (now 9 1/2) is severely autistic. I wanted to do something to use my running to make the world a better place. I hated the way my son suffered and while I’m never going to throw in the towel on him, I’m realistic and know that he’s probably not going to make a huge contribution to this world on his own.

I made a decision to plan to run 60 marathons in a year (in 2010) as an attempt to raise money and awareness for Train 4 Autism. I ended up running 61 marathons along with a couple of ultra marathons and raised about $90,000 that year. I made a deal with myself that if I permanently damaged my body but made the world a better place, that was a trade-off I would accept. I felt like this was my purpose and I wanted to do it. It was worth it.

It was an amazing year. Long and exhausting and over in a heartbeat, yes. But it was amazing. I’ll never regret doing it and I’m grateful that God gave me the ability to make it happen. The last race of the year was something that was thrown together last-minute because the original race I was planning to run the final weekend of the year fell through.

So behind the urging of my friend Jake Rome, along with Train 4 Autism we put together the Operation Jack Marathon. I was hoping for 20 or so participants just to break even and have a race, but we ended up getting 151 to register in just six weeks. December 26, 2010. A day I’ll never forget. Individually, it was a lot of fun. I literally and figuratively ran myself into the ground that year and a lot of people came out to congratulate me on my efforts. It was pretty flattering, plus it made me smile to know that Jack was out there and everybody knew he was the Jack in Operation Jack! It was a really nice day for Train 4 Autism. When I saw everything out there, I just couldn’t believe that a crazy idea that came to me nearly two years earlier had come to life this way.

There was the Train 4 Autism pop-up, people wearing shirts with my son’s name on it, everybody on the course slapping me high-fives, a film crew following me around and a tv crew at the finish. It was an awesome experience, folks out there for a good time supporting a good cause. I had ZERO intention of ever putting on another race, but before I even changed out of my race clothes that day, I had a good dozen or so people ask me if we were going to put on the race again. The thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but with the feedback we got from surveys, I knew we had to.

We went up to about 350 participants in 2011 and then nearly 400 last year. It’s the most amazing thing to me, to see so many people out there running a race and wearing a shirt with my son Jack’s name on it. That little guy is loved and he inspires people and people pray for him and he has no clue. It’s just awesome to me and I feel so blessed that I get to be in the middle of something like this.

But then life (courtesy of autism) started kicking Jack and my wife and my other two kids and me in the face about a year ago. I feel like I’m about 90 years old right now. I haven’t been able to exercise much and I’ve lost a ton of my fitness. I’ve withdrawn so much because of what’s been going on that I’ve pretty much stopped blogging and tweeting. I’ve been living apart from my family for more than three months as we complete a relocation to Pennsylvania (because of autism) and I’ve felt very alone and isolated.

In 2010, I had a lot of people follow along and it gave me a huge boost to know how much people cared. But now, as I’ve crawled into my corner and stopped talking, nobody is talking to me. Lately, I’ve been thinking that my days of being able to do any good are long gone, that 2010 is just a fading memory and being able to run well is in the past. It’s pretty depressing when you want to do something but don’t know what to do or if you can do anything. Quitting my fight has seemed like a viable option many times in the past year.

But I got the shot of enthusiasm I needed yesterday. My good friends with Train 4 Autism met yesterday in California to talk about the race. I didn’t know what the future held and I really hoped there would be a race this year. I knew that the feedback I got from the meeting would tell me if I’d still have a way to keep fighting or if Operation Jack would be nothing but a memory. Well, we’re opening registration for the race today! We’ve hired some help to get us through this and I have no doubt it’s going to be our best event yet. I’m so excited about this now, you have no idea.

Fighting autism through my foundation drives me. It’s a huge positive for me in a life that’s filled with a lot of struggle and pain. I truly believe that I’m making things better, one small step here and there.When I woke up Tuesday morning, I didn’t know if Operation Jack would still be a reality by the time I went to bed, but it looks like it is.

I put on this race for about the purest reasons you’re going to find. This race exists to fight autism. It wouldn’t exist if my son didn’t suffer. You’re not going to find a race director more passionate about the cause or more concerned that you enjoy the race as me. Plus, where are you going to find a $60 marathon that has aid stations, custom t-shirts and 4″ medals, an expo plus a run along the beach in 60 degree temps in December? We also have satellite options, so you don’t have to be in California to support the cause and get the medal and t-shirt.

So come out and fight autism with me. Last year, I flew in Christmas night, got 90 minutes of sleep and then ran the marathon at 2:30 a.m. so I could be at the start area before the race to talk with participants and thank them. This year, I’ll be doing the same thing, although I’m coming from Philadelphia this time.Go to the site and take a look at operationjack.org/marathon or, better yet, go register at bit.ly/OJM2013! And share this on your Facebook and Twitter … keep it going, keep spreading the word, keep fighting the fight![subscribe2]

OK, so, I’m in serious danger of writing a really long, rambling blog today. I’m so, so excited about what I’m going to write about and I have to tell some backstory and I can get wordy and I don’t want anybody to start reading this and not finish and I need to make sure that I explain this right and

Breathe, Sam. Just breathe.

Backstory

OK, here we go. First, some quick backstory. I launched this site on July 1, 2009. Operation Jack. It’s my mission. It’s named that after my son, Jack. He’s 9 now and severely autistic. Still in diapers, still having meltdowns, still barely communicating. But he’s making progress. He’s probably going to struggle his entire life. I decided in 2008 that I wanted to try to make some good come out of his struggles. I brainstormed for months and months and finally came up with an idea: I liked running a lot of marathons and running them without much recovery time, so I figured I’d run a ton in 2010 as a way to raise money for charity.

I ran 61 marathons and two ultramarathons in 2010 and went as hard as I could every time. At least one every week, sometimes two and one time three. I did this to raise money and awareness for a charity I’m a part of called Train 4 Autism. When I found T4A, I fell in love with its model. It’s run on an all-volunteer basis, basically by parents for parents. What we do is help people raise money for the autism-related charity of their choice through the event of their choice. We give them coaching, motivation, groups to train with and all sorts of support. They raise money for the local autism-related charity of their choice, getting off their couch and making the world a better place, typically in honor of their child with autism.

Everybody makes friends and has a great time and at the end of it all, kids with autism benefit from all of this, because small local charities (of the participant’s choosing) are the beneficiaries. We don’t do research or anything like that. Quite simply, we help people who are struggling inject a big positive into their life while they raise money for great charities that need help . The money we spend is good money going after a lot more good money. Capitalism, and we don’t even have payroll!

There’s seven of us (I think it’s seven) on the board that pour every spare ounce of energy we have into this. It’s been a dream of ours to grow Train 4 Autism. It was a dream of mine when I started Operation Jack to make a difference in the world. Really, who doesn’t want to make the world a better place?

Through my fundraising in 2010, some fundraising in 2011 and the 2010-2012 Operation Jack Marathons, the gross total is somewhere (I think?) in the $145,000 neighborhood? There have been expenses, but it’s still a lot of money raised. But the thing is, I never really know if or how I’ve made a difference. If I had a nickel for every time somebody told me I inspired them, I’d be a rich man. Compliments don’t build anything, though, and I’ve always wanted to see something change for the better.

End of backstory

So Tuesday, something was just confirmed to me that is like the biggest dose of caffeine I’ve had in my life. For every dollar raised through Train 4 Autism, 5.5 percent goes towards the website and credit card fees (the actual cost of the expense for us), 9.5 percent stays with Train 4 Autism (we use that for support and growth) and 85 percent goes to the beneficiary of the participant’s choice.

We get a lot of bang for our buck, because we’re all volunteers. The board members I mentioned — there’s not enough adequate words to describe our passion. We all have different roles and strengths and weaknesses. My strength has been raising money (yay Operation Jack!) and when I haven’t been too overrun in every other facet of my life, I’ve helped with some technical things with the website we use. My weaknesses are that I bite off more than I can chew and I can be a jerk when I get angry about something I care about. Not in that order.

Back to the point, I just found out yesterday that we’ve raised enough money and we have enough people raising money directly for Train 4 Autism that we’re going to go on a one-year trial run of not collecting that 9.5 percent! So, for every $100 raised, 5.5 goes for the website/credit card fees (our out-of-pocket) and 94.5 goes to the beneficiary!

I am SO excited about this for several reasons.

First, this is going to be huge for participants and the small, local charities they’re trying to help. So much of the money is going to stay with the charities that need it. We like to feel like we help the little guys, and this is a big, big win for the little guys. This should help boost participation, because the incentive is that much greater now. We’re going to encourage more people and help more people. That’s what we like to do and that’s what we’re going to be able to do more of!

My dream back when I started Operation Jack was to make the world a better place for kids with autism and the way I figured I could do that is that I would help Train 4 Autism grow. I believe in Train 4 Autism and I thought that I could help provide a spark that would help with long-term growth. I wanted to be a part of it from the beginning and do what I do best to help and I feel like I’ve done that. I feel like what I’ve done has helped, and while it’s been a team effort (thank goodness, because it would have failed if it was just me), I had a legitimate role on a great team that won.

To me, this is validation of everything I’ve done over the past three years — from the ridiculous physical pounding I put my body through to all the time, plus the energy and emotion invested in everything. My efforts to make a difference have made a difference. And at the very basic root of all of this is Jack. Without what he goes through, I wouldn’t have done any of this. From the beginning, this has been my way to make sure the makes a difference in this world. I know my fellow board members feel the same way about their kids.

I focus a lot one what I need to do — write a blog here, follow up on ordering medals there, etc. But right now, when I take a moment to pause from that and think about my Jack, who’s up in his room sleeping peacefully right now as no idea about any of the things I do, it brings me a lot of joy. He inspired me to take a chance on trying something big, which has taken a lot out of me, and as satisfying as it is to work really, really, hard, it’s even more satisfying when it pays off.

It’s so awesome to be a part of something from the beginning as it grows, especially a charity that helps kids all over the country who struggle with autism. So, I’m super crazy excited right now. We’re doing this. We’re living the nightmare with autism, but we’re living the dream with Train 4 Autism. Ben Fesagaiga and Brian Thompson started Train 4 Autism, then we jumped on board and we’re all making it happen together. I’m so proud to be a part of this!

Since 2009, two Bible verses have driven me through my efforts with Operation Jack.

• 1 Peter 4:10, Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

• Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Those have driven me and they both seem so incredibly true to me. I’ve struggled a lot lately with some many things going on in my life, especially issues Jack is having, but I’m really happy today. I finally know for certain I’m making the world a better place.

What Can You Do?

Well, as always, I’ll repeat my call to get you involved with Train 4 Autism. There are multiple ways to do this. You can pick the local event of your choice or you can pick one that’s one of our main events that we’ll have a bigger group at. You can set up a fundraising site for the autism-related non-profit of your choice in minutes.

Another model, if you’re a little more daring, is to put on a small race or walk in your area to benefit the organization of your choosing. This is something else we do and we’ve helped quite a few organizations raise quite a bit of money doing this. All you have to do is tell us you want to do it. We’ll get you set up with a race website, including registration and fundraising pages, plus we’ll help you with all the logistics planning the race all the way through to race day. This is getting formulaic for us and it’s a great way to boost community involvement in your area. Do it once and do it right and you’ll be set up with a blueprint for a great annual fundraiser

Also, you can get involved with me under my Operation Jack umbrella. I raise money similarly to how Train 4 Autism raises money. I use a little bit of money to try to raise a lot more money. The big bulk of what I raise goes to the autism-related beneficiary of my choice, which in my case is Train 4 Autism. I have a program called Race 4 Free you can look at. It’s an easy way to participate and do a good thing, there’s a very low fundraising threshold, there’s no commitment required and you get a free race entry out of the deal. WIN!

One more thing to plug and then I promise I’ll call it quits: I have a supporter named Pam Gordon who is raising money for Operation Jack as she trains for her first marathon. She’s doing the Race 4 Free option I just mentioned and is doing a virtual 5K as a fundraiser. Take a quick jump here and consider it!

OK, that’s all for today. Sorry about the super-long post. If you actually made it down this far, thank you for reading! Have a great weekend!