The Heat is On!

If you watch the NBA you probably heard that the Miami Heat won the championship this year after playing all 7 games in the series. I know as an athlete that it takes a lot of dedicated training, determination and even inspiration to go all the way and become a true Champion. During the last 6 months I started to run again, since the last time I ran was 5th grade, and I knew right away that I had it in me to go far. As the story goes, I thought I would just take off and run across the country, nearly 3000 miles, but then I remembered I don't have the energy of a 5th grader at the age of 36. So I started slow and finally ran 3 miles at a little over 9 minutes per mile. Now 6 months later something has changed and a movement has begun with over 2100 people now running right along side of me as we run for our destination, the White House. Now that summer is here, its time to turn up the heat and melt the soles off of our running shoes to create as much awareness as possible with every mile for Our Kids with cancer. https://www.facebook.com/events/129786293855902/

In the coming days we will be faced with many new challenges bigger than any we have seen before  to keep racking up the miles in this event. I think by the end of June we will be on the road to 100,000 miles and as we prepare for the 7/7/7 challenge we should see more people joining through the next two months. I have a personal goal that I am preparing for this week, that will take me farther than I have ever been before, but with the opportunity to take our most dedicated runners with me as captains of their own states. This will be the biggest 50/50 challenge yet and will lead us right up to the White House on September 1st. I will reveal more details soon as this challenge will begin on July 13th.

This weekend I will be taking my 4 year old son Lincoln, who was diagnosed with A.L.L. leukemia nearly two years ago, to the Nike Campus to join a special event with The Jessie Rees Foundation.  https://www.facebook.com/JessieReesFoundation Lincoln is very excited to meet a real football player and get an autograph. I will be very happy to meet Erik Rees (daddy) and his NEGU crew and tell them about our Run to the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness.

This weekend is going to be very, very hot around the country and could reach 100 in the valley here in Oregon. Let keep hydrated and keep those miles coming for the Smiles of the hero's that we Celebrate. https://www.facebook.com/Smiles4Miles2013
https://www.facebook.com/redcarpetkidsforthecure

A Movement of Hope

Tonight as I think about all that has been going on in the world that I know, the one thing that comes to mind is Hope.

Its not just something that I can pick up in the dollar section every time I go to Target, but lately it feels like there is enough for all of us who are willing to spend the last dollar in our wallet. Its not easy to live on the edge all the time holding onto hope, but when there are enough of us with the tools we need to keep climbing this never ending mountain, we find the strength we need in the hearts of others surrounding us. There is hope.

The songs that I listen to when I go for a long run all seem to express the human struggle that we all face everyday, but with just enough hope to remind us to keep pushing through until one day the wind will be at our backs again filling our hearts again with joy. There is Hope.

When I think about the dark clouds that fill the skies and I can see the rain start to fall in the distance, I know that its a matter of time until I either have to run for cover or just take it as it comes because I don't have a choice and I have a job to do, but when the clouds finally break and rainbows suddenly fill the sky, its hard to be disappointed. There is HOPE.

When its late at night or even early in the morning and the news channels are lacking in delivering any sort of substance, I find more assurance in the lives of people who have to say goodbye to the ones they love the most. In the lives of those most devastated, THERE IS HOPE.

But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Its probably harder to wait for the things we desperately need and hope for when there just isn't any time left, so where do we Find Hope?

In the stories of those who's last hope has failed is usually where we find Hope...

Against all hope, you must Believe in hope, not wavering through unbelief, but being strengthened in your faith, being fully persuaded that God has power to do what He had promised. We have this hope in Him. My Hope is in You..........

Its time to Start a Movement of Hope, join us as we Run for the HOPE of one day finding a cure for Our Kids @ https://www.facebook.com/events/129786293855902/