Time flies when you’re you’re spending every spare second of your existence fighting to get your son in school. That’s been the story of my life since September and all of a sudden the calendar says we’re in November? That means there’s maybe five or six weeks left until the 3rd annual Operation Jack Marathon (it’s December 26, whenever that is).
The race is a great event that benefits Train 4 Autism, a charity I’m proud to be a part of, even though I’ve kind of fallen off the face of the earth with an incredibly difficult year. Side note, but totally related, if you don’t know the how and why of how I fight autism, please take a quick look.
Anyways, the point of this post is to show off the age-group awards we’re going to have at the Operation Jack Marathon this year. I am so excited about them. When I saw the pictures, I had a very simple reply to my committee:
WOW. WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW.
In previous years, we’ve had trophies for overall winners. I don’t think we did age group awards, but we decided to do that this year. Rather than order trophies, though, I had a proposal for the committee that is doing an awesome job putting on the race (despite me!). I had an idea for a different type of award that would be incredibly appropriate for the mission of our race.
First, some quick backstory. In 2010, my 3rd marathon of the 61 I ran for Operation Jack was in Mobile, Alabama, and it benefitted a charity called L’Arche Mobile, which is basically an organization of group homes for mentally disabled adults in the Mobile area. I love good causes, and this one hits really close to home for me because my son Jack might end up with a similar organization when he’s an adult.
The age-group awards for that race in Mobile were hand-painted canvases (around 6″ x 8″) made by residents of the homes and on the back, there were bios of the person who made the painting. I was fortunate enough to take second or third in my age group and take home my own canvas. I love it — I’ve age-grouped somewhere around 30 times in marathons and that canvas is the only award I’ve earned that’s on display in my house and not in a box somewhere in the basement.
I love it, simple as that.
I asked my committee what they thought about us contracting with L’Arche Mobile to have their residents paint canvases that we could use as our age-group awards. The way I see it, I’d much rather our awards budget go to a charity that’s right in line with what we’re fighting for. Plus, I think it adds a great touch to the event and a great reminder to all the participants about why we’re putting on the race.
Not surprisingly, I got unanimous agreement immediately. I contacted L’Arche Mobile, they were interested and long story not any longer, they arrived late last week!
They actually arrived in California and since I’m in Colorado, I’ve only seen pictures. But I love them. Here they are:
I’m biased, but I am super, super, super excited about these. I think they’re unique, they have a special touch, plus they’re a visual reminder of everything we’re all about at Train 4 Autism, helping small autism-related charities and making the world a better place one small step at a time.
I’m not going to win one of these awards. But I’m going to be very excited for the people who do.