"I was running..." -Forest Gump
Of all the people I have ever known I think the last person I would describe as a potential runner would be me, unless of course there was some sort of scenario where I was being chased by a large flesh-eating animal. On the whole I have ascribed to the philosophy that I in fact was created much more for comfort rather than speed; and this idea of my athletic identity has for the most part served me well over the last twenty five years. And yet I find myself now at the beginning of an entirely new journey. Cue music.
No, but really I should start a few weeks back when this pesky little idea began to take shape as a reality. I was innocently facebooking one evening when I stumbled across a program called "Couch to 5K", it promised that any seasoned couch potato could take up running and in 9 short weeks, this training program would have said person going from surfing the sofa to running 5K (or just over 3 miles) in 30 minutes. I laughed out loud, right there at my computer...It took me almost 15 minutes on good day to run a mile in High School, there was no way that in 9 weeks I could go from huffing up the stairs to running 3 miles. But the seed had been planted and I found myself wondering about it as time went on. A few days later the following had become a fully hatched plan:
The Challenge: Complete a Half-Marathon on Labor Day Weekend 2010.
Now I know what you're thinking... how did I go from just over 3 miles to just over 13? Well, the truth is I was inspired. I decided that if I was going to challenge myself to do something seemingly crazy then I had better raise the stakes. I have known other people who have run these kinds of races for a good cause, why couldn't I be one of them?
You see, I have the beautiful privilege to work in the inner-city of San Francisco with some of the most amazing kids you'll ever meet. Our little non-profit has been serving the community here for 25 years, and over that time we have found that it is the small gifts of a faithful few that have kept us going. We just started looking for sponsors who will donate $10 a month for 1 year, to support a child in our program. . We have lots of other services, but for a simple idea of how your $10 will be stretched and multiplied its as simple as knowing $10 puts dinner on the table 3 nights a week for a child. (There is lots of great stuff going on and I'm sure future posts will be as much about them as it is about me or check out citycrossroads.org) And so the real beauty in this plan of mine is:
The GOAL: Find 10 sponsors for every mile I plan to complete, 130 sponsors total.
I figure that if I am dedicated enough to run a half-marathon then maybe I can find 130 people willing to commit to just $10 a month. Now here's the promise: if you sign up as a sponsor and I don't make it, you don't have to pay; but if I make it all 13.2 miles then you agree to be a sponsor for 12 months starting in September 2010. Simple as that. A little extra motivation to keep me getting out of bed to hit the treadmill, and the opportunity to make an enduring difference in the lives of some pretty great kids.
Want to become a sponsor? Want to keep track of how my training is going? I'm going to blog about it here, updating at least once a week. I'll let you know how I'm training, how many sponsors I've found, what the kids are up to, and probably whatever else comes to mind.
Wish me luck on this crazy adventure
See You at the Finish Line
Heather
