Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Badwater

Sometimes in life things happen that you are never prepared for. Sometimes you find things you were not even looking for and they make you realize there has been more out there for you than you knew. I’m not a big fan of the saying that things happen for a reason or in destiny. I’d prefer to believe that we all dictate our own path in life. But I can’t help but think that Go the Distance happened to me for a reason. Go The Distance 2010 and everything that came along with it was powerful experience for me and something that changed who I wanted to be as a person. As if I were being subtly nudged along by an angel, I completely bought in to my own message and want that message to continue in me and within Franklin School. Just days after the 24 hour Go the Distance run, I was sitting down with Gina Anixter and we discussed a future for the Go the Distance event and the Go the Distance message and decided it was something that needed to continue.

The commitment I made to this event in 2010 was all consuming and frankly overwhelming for me and for my family. I only knew one way to do something like this and that was to go “all in”. The 20 plus hours a week of training was just a fraction of the amount of time I spent planning the event and soliciting money and sponsors. In the end, the satisfaction I felt from it was worth every bit of the time, blood, sweat, tears and pain that went into it. But, as with all things in life there has to be a balance. I’d like to see Go the Distance and the message it sends continue on in some capacity even long after my kids have moved on from Franklin. It is my intention to continue to use my running and Go the Distance to motivate and inspire people as well as to raise money for Franklin School.

With that said, my own 2011 Go the Distance run will not take place at Franklin School. I’ve been selected to compete in one of the most prestigious extreme endurance events in the world, the Badwater Ultramarathon. From the official Badwater website:

Recognized globally as "the world's toughest foot race," this legendary event pits approximately 90 of the world's toughest athletes—runners, triathletes, adventure racers, and mountaineers—against one another and the elements. Covering 135 miles (217km) non-stop from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, CA in temperatures up to 130F (55c), it is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet.

The opportunity to do this race is something that I can’t pass up and it will be by far my most challenging run ever. I will run this race on behalf of Go the Distance and the kids of Franklin School and intend to raise money for the school and raise awareness for Health and Physical Fitness.

I hope to bring Go the Distance back to the track of Franklin School in 2012 with a bigger and better event which will involve and challenge the kids, parents and community even more than before.

Until then, I hope you will follow along with my journey to Badwater. Through this blog, website http://gothedistancerun.com/Badwater.php , twitter and facebook, I’ll be sharing my training, race plan, excitement, concerns and fears as I prepare to Go the Distance one more time!