Operation Jack

Fighting autism, one mile at a time.

Last Call To Get In On The Satellite Runs!

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We’re having our annual satellite runs on Monday and while I haven’t pushed them too much, I wanted to push it one more time since it’s turning into an annual event. Last year, I ran 61 marathons in an endeavor I named Operation Jack. I did it in honor of my 8-year-old son Jack, who is severely autistic. For the final race, we hosted a marathon. Lots of y’all participated in satellite runs across the country on the same day. It was a great day and collectively, we raised about $25,000 to help fight autism.

Well, we’re doing it again! Monday is basically Operation Jack Day. There are 25 soldiers in Kabul, Afghanistan participating in a satellite marathon. We’ve got about 30 people participating in a satellite marathon/half-marathon in Houston. I need to check about participation about our Operation Jack Northwest Challenge in Portland, Oreg., but that event had about 70 participants last year. The signature event, the Operation Jack Marathon in Manhattan Beach, Calif., will have about 350 participants, up considerably from the 135 who started the race last year. [Read more…]

It's Satellite Season!

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It’s been a looonnnnnnggggg time since I’ve blogged. If you could take my life, stick it in a blender, add in about 30 ingredients and then mix it at the highest speed for, say, three months, the result would be me, right here, right now. Fighting autism is still a big passion of mine, as it was last year when I ran 61 marathons to raise money for Train 4 Autism.

The last of those 61 marathons was the Operation Jack Marathon, which was intended to be a one-time race but went over so well that we’ve turned it into an annual event and you can participate no matter where you are! [Read more…]

I'll Tell You Why; You Tell Me Why Not

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Long time no write! I really haven’t blogged since July, more-or-less. I’ve been beyond busy and have barely had time to sleep, let alone blog. Since July, when I ran the San Francisco Marathon to raise money to fight cancer, I’ve been buried with side work beyond my full-time job, I’ve struggled to get back physically with my running (still not myself and it’s been, what, 10 weeks?), and we’ve put our house up for sale.

I’ve done something else that I really want to talk about though, something that’s also sitting nice and heavy on my plate but I’m really excited about. I’ve added another Operation Jack race! I’m putting on the Richard Leary 6-Hour Challenge on October 30 (with satellite option!) to benefit TAPS and Train 4 Autism and I figured it’s about time I start telling everybody about it! (REGISTER HERE!) [Read more…]

Picturing Regression

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I’m not going to get into a lot of writing for this blog. I think the pictures I’m posting will say enough. Just in case you’ve never been to this site, I’m a father of three and a marathon runner. My middle child, 7-year-old Jack, is severely autistic. I decided I wanted to do something to try to make a difference so in 2010, I ran 61 full marathons to raise money for a charity I’m proud to be a part of called Train 4 Autism.

For a while, I used to think Jack never regressed, that he just never got there. It’s all been a blur for the past six years and I don’t really remember. But after looking at some pictures of him recently, I’m thinking my memory was off. It’s really hard to think about this, and I really don’t want to get on a big soapbox about vaccines, but it’s really hard to look at these pictures and think that we might have done this to him and ruined his life.

I’m not anti-vaccines. But I think you should be safe about them. Make sure your kiddo can handle them. That’s all I’m saying (for now).

Jack pot!

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San Francisco Marathon Race Recap

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My race report for the 2011 San Francisco Marathon is probably going to be unlike any race report I’ve ever written, because the race was unlike any other I’ve ever run — from the time I made the decision to run it, through the training and then the actual race. Going in, I wrote that it was going to be my toughest marathon ever, and 11 hours after crossing the finish line, I’m having a hard time thinking of any of my previous 93 that wore me down more physically and mentally than this one. [Read more…]