What Should I Do?

Countless times this year I’ve said that running all these marathons for Operation Jack is the easiest part of the endeavor. And it’s so true. In my “real” life, I work full time, spend time with my family, try to find time to exercise occasionally and sometimes I even sleep. But then there’s this second-full time job, Operation Jack, I have on the plate.

I write four or five blogs a week, including my race report(s). I handle all sorts of email correspondence. I book all of my flights, spending a fair amount of time finding the best possible balance of keeping costs down, minimizing time away and maximizing time in the cities I go to. I research hotels, making sure the fleabags I stay in are at least somewhat safe. I contact media, trying to get coverage. I handle my Twitter account. I try to come up with fundraising ideas. I pre-book remote airport parking. I pack and unpack and pack again. I travel weekly, typically changing time zones, falling asleep too late and having to wake up too early.

And so yeah, those 26.2 miles don’t seem all that difficult when I finally have to run them. But sometimes, believe it or not, things can slip through the cracks. Like a month or so ago, when I found out I missed the boat and registration had sold out for the Memphis St. Jude’s Marathon. Now fortunately, I was able to purchase an entry with a $500 fundraising commitment. It’s such an amazing cause — pediatric cancer treatment and research — and I’m totally content taking a temporary detour from the fundraising I’ve been doing for Train 4 Autism.

But I really need to get my focus back where it needs to be. I need to raise only $37 more as of this morning. I want to get this done today and I know I can. I f you’ve got $1, or if you’ve got $5, click to operationjack.org/stjude and make a difference for less than the cost of a Big Mac meal.

I want to get this done today and I know we can come up with $37. I want to get this done for a couple of reasons. First, I want to fulfill this obligation to this cause. I mean, how could anybody not want to help a cause like this? The second reason I want to fulfill this Memphis obligation is to figure out what I should do about Philadelphia.

Like with Memphis, I missed the boat and attempted to register for Philadelphia after the race had sold out. I contacted the race to see if they held a few entries for sale for after-the-fact exemptions, like for people running 61 marathons in a single year for charity who get overwhelmed with logistics and occasionally drop the ball. I couldn’t get in, though, but there are a few charity options that seem pretty good.

One is Best Buddies, which creates opportunities for one-on-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Another is the Hearts and Smiles Foundation, which provides assistance to low-income families with special-needs children in special area. And there’s also the American Cancer Society. I stayed with Operation Jack supporter Dave Pittman and his family last weekend in Chicago, and he’s very involved with ACS and I’d love to support that organization. Not only for the Pittmans, but for everything the ACS does.

Those three charities have fundraising minimums of $750 to about $1,000. I need to see that I can hit $500 for St. Jude’s before I can even think about these, but I know we’re going to get that done today.

So, I need your help. First, I need $1. And I need your advice. Do I go after these goals for one of these charities? If so, which one? If not, I have Tulsa as my backup plan for November 21. But what should I do? Let me know!

And once you let me know, have a great Wednesday! I’ll see you back here tomorrow with a weekend preview!