Follow Me in 2016

The 2016 Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness (social media campaign and virtual event) is preparing to kick off the best year ever in support of Our children facing cancer. We are all aware that the 2016 Election Season and Campaign Trail are wide open for the next President of the United States, and we want the candidates to know that we will be running all across the country to raise awareness for our kids, just as they are raising awareness for their campaigns.


Not only will the Trump's, the Clinton's, the Sander's, and the Bush's be making a run for the White House, but so will our 2016 Front Runners, who are parents, friends, supporters and advocates for childhood cancer research all across the country.


This event was inspired in January 2013 by all children who are currently fighting cancer, or who are being honored and remembered by those in the Running and Active Communities. Our mission is to "donate" 1 million miles or more by the end of September each year while raising awareness through our social media outlets, by posting our activities and counting our miles Inspired By Kids.





This year when you post your activities, you can support both the kids you are running for and any of your 2016 Front Runners when you include your:


Miles, time or calories counted
Your State #OR #VA #CA #FL...
Your unique team name #RunningForLincoln #Run4SuperDavid #AngelsForAlex
(These are the hash tags you will want all of your active friends to start using with you on the event page)
The type of childhood cancer you want to fight most #Leukemia #DIPG #Neuroblastoma....


When you choose to Follow any or all of your 2016 Front Runners, you will help them earn points on their Road to the White House (you can follow different front runners each time you post activity)
#FollowBrian #FollowErika #FollowKim #FollowDavid #FollowBecky #FollowJohn #FollowKen #FollowTerri #FollowKelly #FollowKrissie #FollowBret #FollowJoel #FollowSally


The 2016 event will follow this outline beginning 1/1/2016




January-March will begin by asking your friends to Follow you by joining #YourTeam and posting activities including: distance activities such as running, cycling, swimming, spinning, hiking, walking etc. and any type of timed workout that will be converted into miles, where every 10 minutes will be equal to 1 mile, or 7 miles for a full 1 hour workout. This year you can also log your calorie counts and if you also want to include weight loss you can earn miles that way too! (Don't worry about keeping track of your miles, your Host will keep a close eye on the counting as long as you keep posting activity on the event page.)


April-June will be the State Challenges to raise the most miles from your states to "Get On the Map" until we see our Nation Go GOLD!


July-September your 2016 Front Runners will lead the way on the Road to the White House and Washington D.C. where we will join CureFest for Childhood Cancer the third weekend in September where I will host our annual Night Run.


You will want to post your activities as often as you run or workout, or you can post a combined total each 7-10 days if your not on Facebook as often as others.


Every Tuesday you have the opportunity to Double your Miles by posting a Follow Me Selfie wearing your Follow Me shirts "Inspired By Kids." Shirts are available for $20 (free shipping) to my Facebook friends, or in group orders and you will want to contact me early in the year before they are gone. Just send me a friend request and private message with your sizes.


I also have our new Tank Tops for $20 that will help me get to the White House in September AND support CureFest 2016!

Most recently we have introduce our first ever Virtual Race where you can earn #FollowMeBling and a customer finisher Medal by registering with Virtual Uberthons at

http://www.virtualuberthons.com/#!run-to-the-whitehouse/jwxho
The password is: whitehouse


The Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer event begins at midnight 1/1/2016 and runs through the end of September, or until we finish our Million Mile Mission to raise awareness and take Action for all children facing cancer all the way from your house to the White House!

The Road to the White House

The 2015 Run for the White House is becoming more Inspiring with each step as we donate miles for Our Kids facing cancer and things are just getting started.


During the event this year we joined together on teams #InspiredByKids in our #LaborOfLove to give them a voice on the way to the White House.
We were challenged to make our #NationGoGold and become a #NationInspired to get all 50 states running for the White House during the #RedWhiteAndBlueChallenge.
Next we stepped up the pace to #CrushCancer and #EliminateTheThreat from each of our teams during #ConquerChildhoodCancerChallenge.


The next phase will be lead by our #FollowMeNation Front Runners who have been nominated to lead the way in the next challenge on the #RoadToTheWhiteHouse.


In this challenge, you will help your Front Runners earn badges from each state and many of your teams, and possibly other challenges along the way.


Here is how this phase will work.
You will want to post your activity with the following hash tags to support your Front Runners.








Always name any of our nominated Front Runners by their first name (#FollowBrian #FollowKelly #FollowSabrina) and try to follow as many of them as you discover along the way, with each posted activity.
We want you to help them earn Red, White, Blue and GOLD badges over the next 10 weeks by posting the following as hash tags


Your State (#ORkids for Oregon) to help fill out the map on your scorecard
A Team named after our kids facing cancer like #RunningForLincoln
Your Activity #Run #Bike #WorkOut #Sport
Other front runners you are following. Name one as a primary and up to three more as secondary.
One of the many types of childhood cancers that you Crushed during the
#ConquerChildhoodCancerChallenge (#EliminateLeukemia #AttackATRT #LoserLymphoma)


We want to put all of the hash tags into play during this challenge, as this will increase Awareness, promote Action and ultimately assist many of our collective efforts to fund and find a Cure.
Let  your friends know who to Follow all the way to the White House #InspiredByKids in 2015!

Conquer Childhood Cancer Challenge

If anyone has ever watched the TV show Survivor, you know that every day you have to outwit, outlast and outplay to survive the game, not only from the elements of living outdoors and making fire while starving, but you have to survive from being voted out of the game by your own tribe because they have realized you have become a threat to them.




Everyday children battling cancer are not playing games, but they are trying to survive from the threat that has made its way into their bodies which also affects their family and their home.




This month as we Run for the White House we want to join together on teams in the  #ConqureChildhoodCancerChallenge to eliminate the threat that has invaded our children's lives.


There will be a list of teams that have been created before this challenge who will be led by our Front Runners and you can join any, or all of them when posting your activities.




During this challenge the goal will be to donate miles on our teams by using our team hash tags to raise awareness about each type of childhood cancer. As miles are donated, they will be like votes cast against each type of childhood cancer as they rise up on our leaderboard. Once each team donates 10,000 miles the threat of the type of cancer will be eliminated and you can help others to conquer their types of cancer.


Here are some of the teams that are ready to Conquer Childhood Cancer in June!


#EliminateLeukemia
#ExtinguishEwings
#NailNeuroblastoma
#WipeOutWilms
#AnnihilateAML
#OverthrowOsteosarcoma
#BeatBrainCancer
#DefeatDIPG
#VanquishMedulloblastoma
#SubduingSarcomas
#CrushingAstrocytoma
#PunchOutPineoblastoma
#OverRunRhabdomyosarcoma
#AttackATRT
#LoserLymphoma
#RunOverRetinoblastoma
#KickingHepatoblastoma


If you have another team you want to create you are free to add them in, but use the same hash tag each time so we keep connected with the hyperlinks.

A Nation Inspired

This April the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness will enter a new phase of raising awareness for our kids in the fight for their lives against cancer. It's going to take a Nation Inspired to run and remain active from our own front doors all the way to the White House and this months "State Challenge" will help us keep the drive alive and use the power of our social media networks to not only raise awareness, but to take meaningful action when we are Inspired By Kids. This month long challenge will bring an explosion of awareness as we race to donate the most miles we can in each of the 50 states as well as internationally, and each state will be lead by up to 4 Front Runners who you can rally behind with your running and activities. Here is how this challenge will work:


You will want to Follow your states leader by using a state specific hash tag to highlight your activity when donating your miles to the kids with cancer in your state.


For example,
if you live in New York your hash tag will be #NYkids
and if you live in Colorado your hash tag will be #COkids.
North Dakota #NDkids,
New Hamshire #NHkids
and Mississippi #MSkids.
You will catch on as many other begin to hash tag the states that they are representing.


If you know who your states Front Runners are you can also hash tag their names such as #FollowBrian or #FollowSabrina or #FollowKevin to support those leading the way for kids in your state, but remember the ONLY way you get the credit for your state is to hash tag your state #ORkids each time. All miles and activity will be counted, but only applied to the challenge with a hash tag.


As people are using these hash tags, they will be connected to each other during the event and you can click on them to see others who are using the same hash tag. Your leaders may want to do something like choose a child one day to support in your state and you can all join them with a child's unique #TeamName as you have been using.


You will still want to support any of the children you have been in any other state, so if I wanted to support #SuperDavid in SC I would post his team name in support of him and his family, but I would always post #ORkids for all of our kids here in Oregon where I live. There is nothing wrong with giving your full support to another child in another state, but this month only we will try to rally those in our states to support all kids who live here. Can you imagine all 50 states supporting an estimated 40,000 children in the United States who are going through chemotherapy today?


You will see the faces of all of those who have become Front Runners wearing their Follow Me shirts on our event feed, facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWhiteHouseForChildhoodCancerAwareness,
AND now our Instagram account,
https://instagram.com/followmein2015/
so if you don't know who you are supposed to be following, keep looking around or clicking the hash tag of your state until you find your leaders. If a leader has not messaged me with their Follow Me selfie yet, you should at least post your state hash tag until someone is ready to take the lead.


If you would like to join me as a Front Runner I will continue to take your Follow Me selfies and add you to the map, and if you need a Follow Me shirt just email me your size at FollowMe2014@hotmail.com


Keep a watchful eye on our Map as our states begin to donate miles and we'll light it up for the entire USA to see that we are running as a #NationInspired by kids who need a cure today!

Miles of Inspiration

"If you have ever walked a mile in someone else's shoes, you will see there is a difference. When you walk a mile with a child facing cancer, you will see the need for change, even if that means going a million miles to become the change they need."


January has been explosive to say the least, with runners and many others donating activities all through the middle of winter #InspiredByKids who fight cancer every day. Here are some amazing results from people who have decided that this was their year to Run for the White House to raise awareness and give a voice to our kids in 2015.



This year, unlike any year before, we took a new direction on our way to the White House to support our kids by creating team names and build team support in donating our miles and activities.




391 teams were registered in January for at least 391 kids fighting or in honor of the legacy they left behind.




36 states and 4 other countries were observed as supporting all of their kids in general, although there may have been a few more posting for their teams.




84 teams reached their first Run for the White House milestone of 25 posted activities




49 of those were recognized as reaching 50 or more posted activities lead by Race with Grace with 98




25 stepped up to reach the 100th milestone lead by Team Catherine 244,




10 blazed on to cover more than 250 posted activities lead by Smashing Walnuts with 464, (also WVKCC began grouping together following with 416)


and finally 3 teams transcended to the second highest milestone crossing 500 including:


Team Mathias #12 this months M.V.P. with 815 posted activities
The Juggernaut team of Sammy Rulz Cancer Droolz with 718 posted activities
and newcomer Run for Super David with 540 posted activities




During the first year of the event we started very late in January and February may have had 1000-2000 miles donated. Last year in January you donated over 50,000 and in February over 65,000.




This year there is more than a small rumble being heard in the distance from each and every state, because in 31 days of the opening month of this Event, you have donated a total of


97,176.28 miles!




#FollowMeNation, this is your #LaborOfLove #4OurKidsIn2015 #OnTheWayToTheWhiteHouse to raise awareness and #EliminateTheThreat for our kids now and for future generations.


Be Inspired, share your inspiration by taking Action, and never Ever give up fighting, running or dreaming for Our Kids facing cancer!

Inspired By Kids in 2015

Hello #FollowMeNation!




Have you ever wanted to help kids on their journey for a cure for childhood cancer? Then get ready to take the First Step and Follow Me in the 3rd annual Virtual Running and Activity event "Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness 2015."




Back in 2011 my own son Lincoln was diagnosed with leukemia and has successfully finished his treatment in Portland, Oregon last October. After cancer attacked my youngest child, I knew there was nothing else I needed to do in life except to fight back. One day in 2013, after I had become Aware of several hundred kids with cancer, through facebook and social media, I decided to go for a walk around the block one day to think about how I could help them. After walking a mile I decided to try to running, which I had not done in almost 18 years since high school, and that is when I first became #InspiredByKids to Run for the White House to tell the government they needed more help!




I knew I could not physically leave my family or actually run across the country by myself, so I asked friends to help donate miles in an effort to run nearly 3000 miles in a virtual event. The results were astounding as thousands of people joined in donating over 250,000 miles in 2013 and reaching more than 1 million in 2014!




Since that moment of inspiration, people world wide have become more aware and have taken greater action steps through this virtual event to run Passionately, Purposefully and Perpetually for the White House until we find a cure for ALL pediatric cancers.




Here are some things you need to know about the 2015 event:




-Follow Me and your 2015 Front Runners, as we host the virtual event from January through September #4OurKidsIn2015




-The Event is free and open to the public and will thrive on the donation of actual miles from walking, running, training for a race or miles from any of your official events during running season. We also accept any other activity that will be converted into miles by our team committed to counting for you in a #LaborOfLove for kids in the fight.




-To Donate miles or activities, all you need to do is Join the Event on facebook and post your miles daily, weekly or monthly to keep Awareness on the rise on our #MillionMileMission.
You can Join to get Going to the White House on the 2015 Event feed here  https://www.facebook.com/events/738936862858838/






-The Run for the White House in 2015 will be fueled by Inspiration from kids diagnosed with cancer, and we want everyone to join a team inspired by a child in treatment, or in memory and honor of the legacy they left behind, to keep us running for their young friends.




-Register to join a team and support Our Kids by hash tagging the team name with your posted activity. My example would be a unique hash tag (or the name of my child's facebook page) #RunningForLincoln. You are also welcome to support more than one child at a time, or even rotate teams weekly or monthly. If you would like to be assigned to a team you are welcome to message me on our official facebook Page here https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWhiteHouseForChildhoodCancerAwareness




-If you are a parent of a child with a facebook page, please share the event each month and ask people to sponsor your child by joining the event and posting activity with your unique #TeamName, then let Your Kids know they have a sponsor Running for the White House for them during their treatment! It is important that the event is backed by the online childhood cancer community through social media as a virtual ongoing event.




-Invite ALL of your friends on your friends list. While its true not every last person will join, they will at least become Aware of the event and the support you have for the children and they may just want to LIKE our facebook page and watch as the event takes place.




-Use some of the unique hash tags in this blog post to link our posts together and increase awareness in every corner of our virtual universe.




-Have fun and get to know other people who are Running for the White House with you, and if anyone wants to join us in D.C. keep watching for when and where we will be in September.
-Watch for Challenges along the way to help increase awareness and invite more friends to join in completing these challenges.
-Follow your 2015 Front Runners by posting #FollowBrian #FollowKelly or #FollowSabrina and help them earn Badges during the final 10 weeks of the event, beginning July 12th, leading up to the White House. You may also nominate a Front Runner and we will track their activity for you.






Thanks for Joining, Inviting and Supporting all of Our Kids in 2015! See you in September at the White House!




Brian Jones - Host of the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness
Join early starting Sunday 12/28 here!  https://www.facebook.com/events/738936862858838/

50 Days to the White House

Today begins the final 50 days on the road to the White House in an epic year of running and creating activity that is raising awareness for Our Kids.

Our efforts to donate a million miles in this virtual event has reached all 50 states and many other countries in what has been dubbed the "Follow Me" movement, to let the most powerful nation on earth know that we need more research for kids fighting for life from the #1 killer by disease. On September 21st the virtual finish line will be reached when people all over the country and beyond will join together in Washington D.C. at CureFest 2014. If you plan on attending this amazing event and join us in the final lap to the White House please register through the CureFest web site here http://www.curefestdc.org/ and follow the facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/curefestdc

As the host of the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness, I will lead the way starting August 3rd for the final 50 days. Each day I will call out a state and ask people in that state to post their miles, share their stories and join me in a virtual tour of all 50 states until I arrive in DC in September. We will run together and donate as many awareness miles as possible to reach 1,000,000 by the end of September, but if we work hard we can finish by the time I reach the White House on the 21st which is an average of about 4000 miles per day.

I finished my first event in July riding 65 miles for the cystic fibrosis foundation, and in August I will be running the Hood to Coast relay here in Oregon. September I will run to the White House and sometime in between I will hope to join my friends at Miles to Give during their 10,000 mile tour this year. I will finish my running events in October with the Portland half marathon which includes my fundraiser for the Children's Cancer Association for my charity bib. Please consider a contribution on my fundraising page here http://www.active.com/donate/CCA2014/followme2014

Keep hope alive for #OurKids #OnTheWayToTheWhiteHouse #UntilTheyLightTheWhiteHouseGOLD and #EliminateTheThreat #DontBeAFoolBeAWARE #NotFairNotRare #StepUp #50DaysToTheWhiteHouse #GoldenBaton #FollowMeIn2013 #InspiredByKids

Inspired By Kids in 2014

In 2011 when my son Lincoln was diagnosed with leukemia, a form of childhood cancer, my world was changed forever. I was one of those people who were unaware of the fact that kids are threatened every day by this relentless disease. After a few months of eye opening and heart wrenching facts about the devastation of this disease, and lack of funding for pediatric cancer research, I relinquished all of my fears and faced this giant in battle by sharing our son's story to raise awareness with friends through social media. Later in 2012 I began to see some of my friends posting their miles on facebook and I started to think about running again. In January 2013 I started running and asked some of my friends if we could add up our miles together to see if we could run 2900 in a virtual cross country tour to the White House. I would track our activity in a facebook event in hopes that we could complete the tour by September.

As the story goes, we not only ran 2900 miles, but as the event developed over the year and over 3500 people joined the virtual tour, I booked a flight and joined the same number of friends that began the journey and finished the tour in front of the White House, with over a quarter of a million childhood cancer awareness raising miles!

The event that concluded on September 1st, 2013 would begin again at the strike of midnight on January 1st, 2014 with a goal of 1,000,000 awareness raising miles by September, where we would again meet in front of the White House again during CureFest 2014.

Last year as we approached the final 50 days before we reached the White House, I lead out as the host of this virtual event to try to get as many people to Follow Me in raising awareness until I reached the end. This year I will extend this challenge to run 100 days (including some biking and other activities) to all of those who have joined the event in our pursuit of reaching our 1 million mile goal. I will arrive at the White House on Sunday September 21st during the CureFest event to join hundreds of people in raising awareness before our government, and our countries leaders.

As I lead out in the 2014 event, I will be running and cycling in a number of races to raise awareness and donations to help our kids in their time of need. I will be looking for sponsors all across the country to support me and my vision for the event this year. One of the fundraisers I am doing this year during the Oregon marathon is for the Children's Cancer Association. The CCA has been there for my son since the very beginning of his journey and his Chemo Pal has been there for almost every appointment. My fundraising goal for the CCA is $2014 to help bring joy to our kids in the fight every day. Here is the link to my fundraiser to help me reach my goal by the end of September. http://www.active.com/donate/CCA2014/followme2014
I will also be running the Oregon Hood to Coast Relay, the Washington CF Cycle for Life and the final Run to the White House in the coming months to donate more miles to the event.

I want to keep inspiration my motivation for running these races and if you would like me to dedicate a day to your child, send a picture or share your story, you can email me at ricksson33@yahoo.com with the subject Inspired By Kids.  If you would also like to sponsor me with any shirts, awareness wrist bands or other items from your organization, I would be happy to wear them during the virtual event and share pictures for your child, or childhood cancer organization. My shipping address is 9195 Portland RD NE, Salem OR 97305. If you would like to donate in any other way, please email me at ricksson33@yahoo.com

I am looking forward to the 100 day countdown starting June 14th, to reach the White House in 2014 and to see all of those leading the way in this movement to make childhood cancer research a National Priority!

https://www.facebook.com/curefestdc

Champions in Awareness

I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to the Super Bowl this year, when two proven champions meet for the final battle of the season. Although my favorite team will not be playing in this match up, they will be preparing for the next time they will face the winner of this great contest next fall. Now because I have always been in the Great Pacific North West and I lived in Washington growing up, I favor the home team and I feel the excitement of the "12th man" all across the country. Being a part of a team that has worked hard enough to earn a championship is an amazing feeling, and being a fan is almost just as good when it comes down to seeing our team facing a gladiator of an opponent in the arena. There are few things that compare to an experience like the thrill of scoring just enough points to bring down the opposing giant.




This year there is a new Champion coming to your town. The 2014 virtual event "Run to the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness" has teams of people joining to run together to raise the bar on raising awareness, in an effort to defeat their one an only opponent, childhood cancer. As new people join us, often times parents dedicating their miles to their own children facing a cancer diagnosis, we want to welcome each team to join together in this effort to give as many miles as possible each month all the way through September. The goal of raising awareness and running a million miles together in this event, will be getting those in our government to see people who are passionately trying to end the threat in their own children's lives. Its like a living, breathing, willing to sacrifice and take action, petition to turn our White House GOLD IN September, by taking steps in awareness all across the country to the let the voices of Our Kids be heard.




We will want to join together by getting everyone on a team this year, dedicating every step to a child who is currently in treatment. We will need to see you post your miles or time each day with your team name and state. It can look as simple as this "5 miles for #RunningForLincoln in OR." We are trying to get people to use the Facebook hash tag feature, because we know someday we could have hundreds if not thousands of people trending their teams on facebook and possibly twitter in the future. If you don't know any kids, we can assign you to a team, and for those who want to randomly dedicate to many other children, you will be assigned to #TeamFollowMe. You are also welcome to support different teams at different times, but it would work best if you changed teams to do this on the first of the month.


February will be our team building month, so invite your friends to be a part of your teams, who will prove to be Champions in Awareness for childhood cancer in the 2014 Run to the White House.


Click here to Join today and I will give everyone who joins in February a mile for joining a Team and posting their State. https://www.facebook.com/events/514823015291839/

#BeHopeful in 2014

I wanted to take a few minutes tonight, as the host of the Run to the White House, to share why I am running in 2014. I wasn't much of a runner in 2013, or at least until January 25 when this new chapter in my life began. You see, in 2011 my own son Lincoln was diagnosed with ALL (leukemia) or in other words a monster who threaten my son's life. Don't think I was just going to stand by and let cancer take over with out a fight (literally the only fight I have ever been in) During 2011 and 2012 as my son went through his first year of treatment, my eyes were opened to the universe of childhood cancers. Then on day as I was walking the halls of our hospital during an appointment, I became aware of a child I had been following on facebook, who had passed away in a room nearby. Between the threat on my own son, and the reality that children were being lost to the monster, I knew it was my turn to face my fears face to face. I began to follow more and more families until I lost count of how many there were. I couldn't keep my eyes shut anymore to their world, and it became mine too. I wanted to do more to raise awareness, but I didn't know what. Then I got this crazy idea in my head to run across the country as a 2013 new years resolution. I ended up traveling from Oregon to Idaho and realized I still had not run 3 miles, and 599 miles in the snow only scratched the surface of a 3000 mile journey. Then in the dead of winter I decided I was going to start walking around the block a mile at a time. It must have been ten years, but I realized that I could still run and walking wasn't quite enough for me. Then I asked some friends if they would be interested in doing a virtual run, and I would call it the Run to the White House. Word got going quick and 50 people became 500. I was running 5 miles now looking forward to 7 and 10 and possibly my first half marathon. I asked the group if they would like to wear running shirts, and the Follow Me movement began. After running right off the maps I was creating and around the world a few times, it was time to make a decision: how am I going to get to the White House??? It didn't take long and I had my tickets booked, and the best part was that I was going to meet many who had been running with me at CureFest 2013 in Washington DC.


The 2014 event is already off to an Epic start and its only going to get bigger as you keep inspired by the kids you are running for. In the next week or two, ask yourself what you will do to help kids fight cancer. Some will run, others walk and many will even watch this even as we reach for a million miles by September. Will you Follow Me to the White House again to let our government know that childhood cancer is not rare and deserves more? Its as easy as joining the event and giving a few miles, or as many as you can this year, and even if you don't log one mile, you can invite all of your friends and ask them to sponsor a child with cancer by donating miles. The Run for the White House will blaze a trail across this country again in 2014 because we haven't given up hope for Our Kids. Be inspired, be active and #BeHopeful as you run this year. Thank you all, and God Bless our children!

Follow Me in 2014

In January 2013, a small group of about 50  people began running together to raise awareness for one purpose and with one goal in mind. What happened next would become an Olympic sized, virtual event across our great nation known as the "Follow Me" movement. This 7 month virtual running event with 3500 active members, reached places as far as Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and 20 other nations, in a worldwide effort to increase and magnify awareness for children with cancer, the #1 killer by disease in all children.

On September 1st, many of those who ran would meet together in Washington DC, on the steps of our governments front door, the White House, to finish what had been started . The end of this race would not be completed for glory and honor, but for a chance to let our elected leaders know that our kids are still dying at the rate of 50 children in all 50 states and something needed to be done now.


The Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness event (Follow Me 2014) began at midnight, January 1st and will go through September 30th, and this is how it will work for those who want to join:

Join the live event on facebook here now:
https://www.facebook.com/events/514823015291839/
Begin by posting your miles on the event page. Post as often as possible because people will notice your activity and want to know how they can run for the White House too. Invite all your friends using the Invite feature in the event to invite someone you run with, a relative or anyone you meet and are excited to share this idea with.
Talk about it at the gyms you visit or with the high school track and cross country teams. We will look at adapting other sports and activities too in the near future like golf or cheerleading.


Next go to the official facebook page and click LIKE here:
https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWhiteHouseForChildhoodCancerAwareness You can share the page and invite friends and there is a link that will lead them to the live event in the "about" section.

Here are some ways you can be active in this event:

Start by clicking on the map (on the event page) and comment with your city and state or country.

Run, walk, bike, swim, exercise and post your miles, km or time on the event page and they will be counted toward the total goal of 1,000,000 miles. Be sure to post your state each time until we know that all 50 states are participating.



We will count every mile and turn minutes in to miles for workouts (one mile every 10-15 minutes, and 1 bonus mile at each hour.) If you are not a runner, you can contribute with yoga, P90X, Zumba or other activities. Give us anything that is an activity and we will convert it to miles!

Create or join any team to dedicate miles to real kids, then shout out your team name as you post "26.2 miles for Running for Lincoln!" Let these kids know your are running for them: Like their facebook page and leave them with a message of support.

One of the high lights of the 2013 event were the Follow Me tech shirt made for running in during your 2014 5k's and marathons. You can order an awareness running shirt by emailing your request with your sizes to FollowMe2014@hotmail.com (details to follow via email)

Creating awareness along the way:

Talk about how you are running to the White House, everywhere you go, to everyone you meet. People will be interested and want to know why they should "follow you."

Run and exercise like you have never done before, people will notice your activity and want to know how you are doing. Tell them why you're doing it and for who, if you are dedicating to a certain child.

Become aware of all advocates everywhere especially on social media and share your pages, organization and public events that promote awareness in our event. Many run races different times of the year, and you can join and donate to those causes, and still donate to this event too, especially you marathon runners.

Talk to those who have the power and responsibility to make changes for our kids. Email is a quick and easy way to write to your elected officials to let them know our kids need a voice.

There is unlimited potential for creating awareness, just give something a try and if it doesn't work, just keep running with us.

The Run for the White House is an awareness campaign to promote awareness to the unaware, activity in the community of families with pediatric cancer diagnosis, and most of all to take action that will amplify the voice of kids who's only hope is in everyday people like you.

When matters of life and death are concerned for our kids, all it takes is a single step to make a difference. Are you willing to JOIN the movement today?

Click here to join right now.

 https://www.facebook.com/events/514823015291839/

 

A Handful of Change

Fifty cents is not worth very much these days. Its nearly impossible to find a candy bar that cheap at a 7/11 and it wouldn't even get most people to buy a $10 item if it was only 50 cents off. This month was my sons 5th birthday, and he really wanted some coins, so I gave him two quarters. You wouldn't have guessed the first place he wanted to spend his money was the "Dollar Store". Unfortunately he would have been very disappointed if I told him he would have to wait until his 6th birthday to get two more quarters to be able to buy the $1 treasure he had been waiting for all year.

 

Don't you think he would feel a little "short changed?" Literally?

 

To a 5 year old, two quarters are worth their weight in gold, but to an average adult who's annual wages are more than 10x that amount for every single hour they are still breathing, its hardly a handful of change worth holding onto.

 

Like most parents, we want to give our kids everything good in life, but who would actually want to switch roles with our kids and put them out there in the work force, commuting everyday in traffic jams, and taking heat from the boss for not pulling in the sales needed for the corporation to fatten their wallets and their waist lines. No one would want to put their kids through the torture we adults endure everyday. So why would we want to let our kids suffer from things that only people over 50 are supposed to suffer, as they prepare to meet their maker? There is no need to rush them into adult living that often feels that it is worth less than a pocket full of change.

 

Now imagine your child had a life threatening disease such as cancer and ask yourself, what is the world doing today to help over 13,500 kids that are diagnosed each year.

 

Here is a challenge for you: using the number 50, choose which one of these statements about the current state of pediatric cancer is true? (I'll give you 3 choices, and if you guess wrong you will have to change your profile picture to a Giraffe...ok I'm joking, but seriously...)

 

1 - Every year, only 50% of the funds raised by the American Cancer Society go to childhood cancer research.

 

2 - Every year the National Cancer Institute budget of $50 billion dollars, only gives 10% for childhood cancer research ($500 million)

 

3 - Every year there are 50% as many children's who die from cancer as there are with AIDS, diabetes and cystic fibrosis combined.

 

If you believe that any one of these are true, I challenge you to become more aware of the half truth's, or should I say, those that are less than 50% true at all, listed here.

 

Currently the ACS (American Cancer Society) gives less than 50%, more accurately an astounding 1% to pediatric cancer research. That doesn't make the NCI look any better because their budget is approximately only $5 billion, not $50 billion. Less than 10% of that goes to pediatric cancer research, again less than 50% which is only 3-4% of that $5,000,000,000! Finally, the mortality rate due to pediatric cancers, far outweigh the deaths of those in the combined categories of AIDS, diabetes AND cystic fibrosis!

 

To give you another perspective, I heard on the world news tonight that over 2000 American soldiers have been killed in the last 11 years of war, but the war on childhood cancer on American soil still claims the lives of over 2500, every single year! That is an average of 50 kids in ALL 50 states!

 

If you don't think 50 cents will matter, you better believe what really matters is that families can tuck their children in bed in their own rooms each night, rather then laying them in a miniature coffin 6 feet under the earth.

 

The next time you pull a handful of change out of your pocket, remember that in order to make change, you yourself will need to be the change for what matters most, our future generations.

 

If you are ready to make change, now that you are aware of the state of pediatric cancer, share a link to this blog or post a picture of a handful of change and include this link. Then watch this short film by the Truth 365 and take action before you hear about another child diagnosed with cancer, or worse.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLnNyZclkDQ&feature=youtu.be

In a Matter of Minutes

I promise this will only take a few minutes of your time...

FACT
The National Cancer Institue’s budget for FY 2013 was $4.8* billion.
Most of it went to 10 major types of adult cancers (lung, breast, prostate, colon, etc.)

 

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/NCI/research-funding

FACT
Approximately 4% covered 12 major types of children's cancer

FACT
The US Government spends $435,841,200 per hour (that is $7,264,020 per minute)  http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/us_deficit/us_deficit.html

FACT
4% is about $192 million dollars, so in 26 1/2 minutes of an entire Year (525,600) the money needed to find a cure for kids like yours and mine is spent. When that money is gone, the world depends on parents of children who are on the front lines, who are spending their life savings and more to sell lemonade and shave their heads and run to the White House, to raise even more money for research that has yet to scratch the surface in finding a cure.

Until our government gives us just a few more $minutes$ our kids will continue to suffer and die at the rate of 50 children in all 50 states.

... I hope this doesn't take a lifetime to decide something needs to be done to cure children's cancer, will you give a few minutes to write to congress to make change for our kids in 2014, before all we have with our kids are the last few minutes of their lives?

 

 

Icing on the Cake

Friday the 13th has never been more exciting than it has on National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day 2013! All day I have seen the golden glow of children's faces, as people everywhere come together to create awareness for our kids. Today may have been just another freaky Friday to some, but for kids all around the world who's lives have been terrorized by cancer, there has been celebration and an outpouring of support for children who deserve to see their next birthday.


Speaking of birthday's there are 2 coming up in October that you won't want to miss out on. Last year was a big celebration as my son Lincoln went on his Make-A-Wish trip and met Buzz Light Year on his 4th birthday! I won't say it made me feel old, but less than 2 weeks later that was a different story as I turned 36. I know many people who say they don't need birthday's anymore because they have had so many of them, but after thinking about it for half my life I have finally discovered that the secret to staying young is by giving back twice as much as you received, with each year that you have left.

This year I'm not going to have a surprise birthday party, but I am going to blow out the traditional party ideas by celebrating kids with cancer, who are hoping to blow out their own candles just one more time. To celebrate all of Our Kids in a special event, I want to create awareness by running 13 consecutive days, beginning on my son Lincoln's birthday and ending on mine. To help me in my pursuit for a cure and for the care of all, I will ask for 1300 people to join anywhere and anytime in this 13 day running challenge. You can do this one of many ways by running all 13 days, running a half marathon (13.1 miles) running as many 3.1 (5k's) as possible or walking with 13 friends to help raise awareness. Finally I will be looking to inspire 13 sponsors who will be willing to donate $1000 each to the childhood cancer research "Dream Team" through the efforts of The Truth 365 film and social media campaign.

Now that's what I call Icing on the Cake for #OurKids!

I have created a special facebook event page where you can donate your miles, celebrate kids who are still in the fight, and inspire action in the pursuit for a cure. You can join and invite all of your friends here @  https://www.facebook.com/events/566091380104579/

https://www.facebook.com/events/566091380104579/

Plan of Action

September is in full swing for #OurKids fighting cancer and awareness is on the rise, but "what" we ask is awareness really doing for childhood cancer in 2013? Back in January a petition was signed that was going to turn the White House Gold, or so we thought, but  now we feel the government has turned their backs on our kids and the fire is burning now more than ever. Awareness is something that can take place at anytime of the year, but in the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness this year, people were doing more than raising awareness, they were literally taking ACTION that would bring a virtual idea into reality. Now that the event is over (for this year) people won't stop running because they know our kids need us now more than ever.

What is awareness and what is action?

Awareness is defined as "knowledge or perception of a situation or fact"

Fact: children get cancer
Fact: people know that children get cancer
Fact: people are aware that children have cancer
Fact: If we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, and watch kids die day after day but don't take action, we fail to invest in our own future.

Action is defined as "the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim"

Do you have a plan of action? If you fail to plan, inevitably your plan will always be failure

Do you want to fail our kids like our government has? Do you think they ever had a Plan to help them overcome cancer?

Here is my plan: DON'T FAIL OUR KIDS!

Time is short and there is so much more on the line, comment here or on my facebook or twitter posts about how you will take Action this September for #OurKids.

Follow Me in a real life action event @ https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWhiteHouseForChildhoodCancerAwareness 

Run for the White House Finale

Where do I begin to tell you about all of the amazing things that have happened this last week? So many stories of people who have taken a stone of hope from a mountain of despair and created monumental awareness for our cancer kids. With the events happening in our nations capital and the gold rush happening in every state and many countries, childhood cancer awareness is gaining the attention of thousands, soon to be millions of people. So begins the September 2013 edition of Brian's Phirst Blog, dedicated to children like mine fighting for their lives!

Very early this year, only about a month after the Truth 365 film and social media campaign had gone viral, I wanted to do something I have never been able to do for Our Kids, so I went for a jog one chilly January day and let my mind wander as my feet took me down the country back road. I have never really been a runner like my friends Julie, Jerry and Tonya who have helped support our family since my son Lincoln's diagnosis, but I wanted to see if I could run a 5k race, longer than I had ever run since 5th grade. I started dreaming about crossing the country but after a 595 mile drive to Idaho, I could see the challenge would be impossible for me. I asked my running friends if they would contribute miles to the 2844 mile trek in a virtual tour to reach the White House. It didn't take too long for the word to get out and only 7 months later we have over 3500 people who have participated in running a quarter of a million miles for one purpose, to save our kids lives from cancer.

I have been a fan of a just a few reality TV show since they really became big over the last few years and one of my favorites is Survivor, but as the Host of this year long virtual event, I wasn't looking forward to eliminating any of the contestants, but continuing to invite participants to join in running  with me. During the last day of my 50 day challenge to virtually run through all 50 states, I asked people to join me in a run around the DC/VA area. I had three routes planned so people could join in at different times of the day and in an attempt to shorten the final run through the mall Saturday night, those running with me, inspired by our kids, actually increased the miles in an unforgettable evening that lead me to run the total of a full marathon that day. It was the perfecting ending to the 2013 season with the Live Finale of this virtual event right around the corner, following an awareness event of epic proportions.

On Sunday, September 1st, 2013 One event hosted by The Truth 365 and Journey 4 a Cure, brought together 50 organizations, foundations and parents of children who have faced the frontlines of battle at CureFest in Washington DC, to kick off national childhood cancer awareness month near the Washington Monument. This one event called for a unification of many to speak in One Voice to our nations leaders to raise the federal funding levels for pediatric cancers. We heard testimonies from children themselves who were suffering from inoperable and deadly cancers. The event inspired us all to join together and keep our spirits high as we raise awareness in September. Regardless of what we hoped for in a White House lit with golden light bulbs, we committed to keeping the flame within our hearts burning not only through September but 365 days of the year.

Following CureFest we were ready to run to reach our goal. With the vision of our kids in mind we began our run towards the Lincoln Memorial where another visionary once stood with a dream to eliminate inequality for all people seeking freedom. As we climbed the steps I realized that my dream to end the nightmare of childhood cancers was just beginning, but there were bigger and better dreams to be revealed as we faced the darkness time and time again. We turned back to run toward the White House and more people joined along the way. 

The final run gave us all a chance to feel like we had come a long way, and after nearly 7 months we realize we have many more years to go, but until we can all stand together and let the voices of our children be heard, our words will be silenced by those speaking over us. Creating awareness can be something that any of us can do from anywhere at any time, and it is critical to the process that leads to funding, research and ultimately a cure. 

Over the next few months we will plan for the future of the Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer Awareness. Knowing we will face long nights ahead, our visions will be lit from a flame that still burns within each one of us. As the sunsets over Washington we have hope in a new day, and when darkness falls we won't let slumber over take us, but from this nightmare we will rise again in 2014. Will you Rise with Us?

Join the movement and check out our White House pictures @ https://www.facebook.com/RunForTheWhiteHouseForChildhoodCancerAwareness

Run for Gold

This morning as I sit at the airport, one I have been to many times for many reasons, its almost hard to believe I am going to get on a plane to Washington DC.

Back when I was in high school in Washington state, I had no vision for my life and any day was a good day as long as I could pull myself out of bed. When I met my wife to be Jenny, I envisioned a family with two kids and a dog (still waiting on the dog babe;) and when we had our daughter Emma and our son Lincoln we knew life would be lived to the fullest.

On July 1st, 2011 the day after our 10th wedding anniversary, the dreams that we watched unfold throughout our lives we interrupted by the nightmare of childhood cancer when our son Lincoln was diagnosed with Leukemia at 2 years old, this in the wake of the loss of my nephew just a year ago to cystic fibrosis. Once again our lives turned from daydreaming about what could be to hoping day by day that our son would survive. We didn't know where to start again but we soon found out that the would would be praying for a miracle for ours and thousands of other children that were also diagnosed in 2011. This became more than just about my son, it became my mission to bring a cure for all children whose lives were threatened.

During the next year as we rearranged our lives for Lincoln's chemotherapy, I discovered many people who were already veterans in the army of One against childhood cancers. The first thing I noticed was all of the support these kids were getting through organizations and foundation. I began to wonder if I should start a foundation but it was too soon as we cared for our son. A few months later I became aware of a film that was being produced about our kids and when the asked for volunteers at jumped at the chance. I used my blog to raise awareness and share about the film and then in December 2012 The Truth 365 was released, gaining 50,000 views before the years end.

After our campaign had released the film, there was still more to do, and with many organizations shaving heads, selling lemonade and bring Joy to kids throughout the year, I wanted to keep up with the race to September, national childhood cancer awareness month. In the middle of winter with the kids in our country in mind, I started running to reach out to those who have the power to eliminate the threat, our government. The Run for the White House for Childhood Cancer awareness began, not as something to spectate but to draw participation from all over the country all year long. Now on September 1st, 2013 a movement will sweep over Washington DC as it has already around the world, to bring a golden glow to Our White House in an organized effort that created #EpicAwareness that will continue on stronger than ever before.

With One Voice we declare September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to our nation to save our kids by allocating more of our countries $5 billion dollar cancer research to save their lives. As the most powerful nation on the planet, we will lead the way for the children of the world to be free from the monster within. Please join me and all of my friends with links all over this blog to end childhood cancer once and for all!

Just Another Ordinary Day

The place where I work has a motto that says: "Have an Ordinary day" Why? Because that is what usually happens anyways right? Today was relatively ordinary I suppose, for a Wednesday. Since I started my new position as an estimator in the sales department, it was actually my scheduled day off, and the first thing I did was go to the dentist to have a filling (or two) which was very ordinary. Next I went to the office (on my day off) to work on some simple little things for just a few minutes. As soon as I walked in the door (on my day off) I sold $1000 in materials. Completely...ordinary. As I sat down at my desk I wanted to look at facebook since it was technically my day off, but then the phone rang and it was for me. It was the lady I talked to the day before and she was ready to buy, which nearly made my day a little extra, but it was ONLY an $11,000 sale...still slightly ordinary.
In sales we often look at our numbers, but I didn't have time to get caught up in anything because I had scheduled more appointments for sales, since I had the whole day to do anything other than work. Ordinarily the case. I had to rush to get to the next job and after I made the sale and was about to collect a check, the customer asked what time they would install the fence. I said 3 weeks from now. That was the end of the appointment, but that was no less than ordinary. I got back to the office and the phone rang, this time he was ready to buy, so my ordinary day continued. I finally broke away to do something else I needed to do, which has become the norm recently as I delivery packages to the post office that go all over the world so people can have a new running shirt to run in. Equally  ordinary. Time was getting short as I had another 3 appointments scheduled (on my day off) and I made my way south for the first. I took out my tape measure to see how much fence would be installed (and this time I didn't hurt myself with the tape, like I did the day before, which seems to be ordinary even for estimators) and I felt the customer asking for the "best price" I told him I was new at this, but didn't budge until I suggested that his fence would get a lot of attention on his busy road, so I gave him a "high traffic discount" and he handed me a check for the install. I thanked him and moved onto the next two short appointments and then back to the office where I worked until 7pm, before I went on a 2.8 mile run and a 9.31 mile bike ride...still ordinary? Yes, I think so.

So what do I ever do that is, might you say, extra-ordinary? I don't think I could tell you. I just do what needs to be done, and if that means creating a virtual event where over 3000 people have donated nearly a quarter of a million miles for the cause of our kids fighting cancer in a virtual event that will lead us to the White House...that's what I do and its not to difficult, you just have to do it...the result? A cure for childhood cancer...someday, but inevitably the beginning of something that should be very ordinary, children living to see their own children born someday, because the threat of cancer has been eliminated. So as you plan your existence for tomorrow: Have an ordinary day.

https://www.facebook.com/events/129786293855902/

A Goal to Get Going

For the last 12 years of my life I have been working in construction, building RV's and then moving on to decks and fences. Right after I got married to Jenny in 2001 I was in the middle of an internship that ended suddenly and I needed a job. I took the first opportunity I could find as a non ambulatory on call, taxi driver until I realize this was not the direction I wanted to go in life. After talking with some friends I got a job in McMinnville, OR which was a short commute, and I finally got a taste of the real world. Even then I was not ready to face the challenge working in a factory, but after failing to keep up the pace in the trimming department, I was moved to something even more risky, framing the walls of the RV's. For the first time in my life I needed a plan, because my plan had always been failure.

"Failing to plan is certainly a plan for failure."

For the next three years I went from miss-cutting little pieces of trim to learning how to frame from floor to ceiling because I had a plan. This would be my career and I would no longer fail with a plan to succeed in everything I touched. With this new vision for my life, my capacity for knowledge increase so much that I was instruction other departments on how to make all of our lives easier. I even bet my supervisor one day that I could cut every piece of wood and frame our largest wall in 3 hours, which was typically a 4 hour job, and I did it in 2 1/2 because I had a plan. Things were going well, but something started to frustrate me when our department's lead man would not make a decision to become the next supervisor. It became so unbearable that someone who had the vision to be a lead man would not move up and give me the opportunity to follow so I resigned and left McMinnville to go work 2 blocks away from my apartment in Dallas at another RV factory.
One day about 7 months later our compressor went out and we were sent home and with nothing to do I went back to Mac to visit my old friends. When I showed up they told me the lead man in my department just quit and offered me the job. I showed up the next day and returned to my original plan for success. It wasn't two months later and a supervisor position opened up and I put in my request to turn my working hands into a vision for my company.

I only spent 11 months as a supervisor overseeing 2 departments at a time and learning 2 additional departments as well. When I moved to Salem, the drive was even farther, but my wife noticed a help wanted sign just half a mile down the road from our new house. I applied and interviewed and was hired shortly after I jumped ship from the factory that ended up closing its doors only 7 months later.
My plans had changed but my vision for my career had not. I was going to have to start over, but I went from helper to leader in 6 weeks, and from leader to manager in 2 1/2 years, and now 6 years later I will be moving to sales on Monday.

Early this year, after 1 1/2 years of my son's cancer diagnosis, I needed to make a new plan for raising awareness. I tried a few things that worked out alright, but this time I needed a vision just like I had for my career. I didn't really know how this vision would expand into what it is today, and now I am doing all I can to keep up with it and keep it going. At first the idea of running to the White House was more of a daydream that kept me from become overwhelmed with my work in the field, but when I started to participate, it lead the way for over 3000 people to run nearly 200,000 miles for our kids fighting cancer. Now I am at a point where something is in my way and I need to push it as hard and as far as I can. I have run "virtually" in over half of the states in the US, but now I have a vision to take it to level 2. This time I'm not just wishful thinking because the pressure is on to make it through every state and have every state participate for the thousands of kids that will be diagnosed in the next 12 months. Now with only 20 days until I reach the White House I will start my daily doubles and run twice a day for 2 states in the next 10 days, and 3 times a day for 3 states in the final 10 days. I hope every state will join the #FollowMein2013 movement and cross the finish line in the finale for #EpicAwarenss on September 1st. I will need all of my friends to help me in a virtual way to make sure you are "Going" to the event instead of wishing you had done something sooner for some of the greatest kids on earth.

Remember...

Click here to get "Going" even if it only means witnessing this years event in the grand finale on September 1st. https://www.facebook.com/events/129786293855902/

A Week to Remember

This week will be one to remember in the world of childhood cancer awareness. There have been joys and heart break in this battle, but we are still here are we will keep moving forward. Today as I reflect on the events of this week I can't help but think of the progress that has been made by so many people speaking with one voice and how awareness is becoming something of an Epic Charge in this great battle.

 

Last week was the beginning of my 50 day challenge to run 50 consecutive days in virtually every state in this nation with at least on person representing these states and children smiling for our miles to keep us inspired. I started the first day with a 10k race here in Oregon with a local children's foundation that has been supporting our family. See http://www.4him2day.org/ I chose the longer run because I had never been on the trails in the park we ran and I wanted to see what my race time would be in a 10k. I finished 8th overall just ahead of the 1st place woman with a time of 46:06.

Day 2 of my run was just as exciting as day 1. I found out about a 5k race that just so happened to be right across the street from my brother's house where I was going to for my niece's birthday party. The "Run like a Rockstar" race hosted by http://www.theronanthompsonfoundation.com/
was just the race I needed to keep motivated in the first few days of my virtual run for the White House. The race around Lake Sacajawea was what I had been training for and after taking off early I finished 4th over all and 2nd in men's. I didn't really think about prizes, but they gave me a t-shirt for 2nd place and as I went to get it, they saw my "Follow Me" shirt and asked if I would like to talk about the Run for the White House in front of everyone there! Later I asked Maya Thompson how many people were there and we donated over 500 miles to the Run for the White House.

 

After two days of back to back races I took a 1 mile run but with the added challenge of waking up at 5am to beat the heat. My plan for the rest of the week would be the same each morning and I picked up a few more miles the next day before work. A few hours into Tuesday I got the message that another child passed away from cancer. Normally I feel the pain as most of the community does, but this time it was different. When any child dies from anything, there is great sorrow, even when it is expected, but when Talia Joy Castellano earned her wings, we all knew a Great Champion had fallen in battle. As one of the most recognized faces in the world of childhood cancer, at an age where she could express herself to the world through her You Tube blogs, Talia brought us together to cheer her on as she fought for over six year. We will never forget and we will never surrender in this fight as we continue to honor the fallen warriors who now stand on heavens golden streets where cancer will never prevail.

The rest of the week was a struggle, but I still got my miles in Wednesday which was the first 5 days of running. I have been creating maps of the states where people are running with me and Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Arizona were the first 5. Thursday was also a quick 1 mile at about 6:30, and Friday I took the last of my energy for the week and made a new personal record of my 5k with a time of 21:21, the first time my pace was under 7!

The first 7 days of the first of 7 weeks ended with a bang and this morning I waited for just the right time to do a virtual run in Maryland with some friends I have been following since February. Today at noon eastern time Landon Cooper, Ryan Priest and John McKay finished their run across the country with 3187 miles and $100,000 donated to sarcoma cancer research. These guys have truly fulfilled my dream that began early this year, but then our dreams collided as my running event took a virtual tour and they began to donate their miles to our kids fighting cancer too. I want to give these guys the Epic Awareness/Extra Mile award for this year in running and hope to see what happens next with Miles2Give in 2014.

Finally I have opened up "Follow Me" running shirts to the general public to help me to continue to raise a few extra dollars that will go a long way in this awareness event this year and in years to come. For $25 I will send you a shirt like the one in this picture, in hopes that I can reach every state and have as many people as possible with me when I arrive at the White House on September 1st. All I will need you to do is send me a friend request on facebook and a private message or email me at ricksson33@yahoo.com with your sizes in men's or women's and your shipping address. I can take checks or use Pay pal. I am open to take donations of any size, and if you have officially JOINED the event, I will take donations for the shirts starting at $18. Join here https://www.facebook.com/events/129786293855902/

 

 Follow me and my miles on my blog page @ https://www.facebook.com/briansphirstblog