It was a typical Sunday afternoon. I had just finished showering after a light jog. I was skimming through personal email on my Android while sipping a cup of tea and tiptoeing around the one of the cats' many gadgets strategically placed in the floor in hopes of getting me to take a moment play fetch with them.
I read the title of an email from one of my best friends from high school, Andrew, making a mental note to read it thoroughly after I had double-checked my fantasy football line up for that evening's games.
Fast forward an hour, during a commercial break and I finally get to Andrews mail:
" Hi Charm,
If memory serves me right the last time we hung out you mentioned you were looking to start running again. I've decided to run the Whidbey Island half marathon in mid April and wanted to see if you'd be interested in joining me.
The kicker is that I'm doing it for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to raise funds for cancer research. There's two aspects to it, the fundraising and the actual training for the half marathon.
For the fundraising, they set me up with a website where people can donate (there's also an app), although you know me and I hate asking people for stuff, so I'll have to work up to asking friends, family and coworkers to donate.
The training is cool because there's a group of about 20-30 people that you meet with twice a week to run with at your own pace: Tuesday nights at Green Lake (although they're setting up an East side group) and Saturday mornings at various places in the area. There are trainers and coaches that help you set up a training schedule that works for you.
Anyway, wanted to see if you were interested. You can sign up anytime between now and I think February. Below is the link to the website if you're curious.
-Andrew
Somehow reading his original email the only phrases that stuck were charity, Whidbey Island, fundraising, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). My immediate replay was Yes! I was thrilled Andrew was doing something philanthropic and wanted to support him. It wasn't until I went to register I realized I was signing up for a half marathon. (He's still never let's me down for not reading his email entirely).
So now I'm here, what am I doing? I'll be sharing updates over the next several months:
- Share my experience training for my first ever marathon
- Document my progress
- Keep me accountable
- Make fundraising more personable for my donors :)
- Share my mission moments as the occur in my experience
I will also share my fundraising link once that get's sorted out as it appears I've been automated for a few by error! Until then, stay tuned!