NYC Marathon in 2010
Anyone running the NYC half marathon in March 2010??
If you are and you would like to run for a cause but just haven’t managed to find one, then you should consider the Fresh Air Fund. I’ve written about them before here and I think the work they do is amazing.
If you are interested then email me or get in touch with them through their website – I’d of course love to be there to run but with only 3 months to save enough money to get there, I don’t think it will be a possibility – this year anyway 
Leave a Comment / 
December 14th, 2009 / 
Fund Raising, Reluctant runner
Old Charity Partners
For those of you who have been here from the start, you will remember igiveada.mn and its founder Andy. They were the guys I used for my first Comrades Marathon fund raising activities, to help consolidate international donations for Reach For Recovery. Basically igiveada.mn was a networking site where you could recommend a cause and the people in the network would support you and send the word around. This sounds like any social networking site but the reason it worked for me was because as South Africans, PayPal won’t allow us to receive money into a PayPal account – why I have no idea, but igiveada.mn bridged this gap which meant I was able to recieve international donations from all my friends overseas via PayPal through igiveada.mn
After chatting to Andy about using the igiveada.mn service again this year, I was sad to hear that he had put the project on the backburner because of a lack of support – BUT igiveada.mn is back and this time all the focus is on one project!!
Andy and a bunch of mates are coming out from the UK for a building project on the Wild Coast – an exquisite piece of coastline in South Africa. The details are not finalised yet but the project is to build a house near to a small local hospital which will house the much needed doctors and nurses which serve this community.
I think it is a wonderful project but at the moment it is entirely self-funded. If you would like to get involved please read more about it here and if you are keen to help in any way then get hold of Andy and let him know.
Leave a Comment / August 21st, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Reluctant runner
The Fresh Air Fund
I was contacted the other day by Sara from The Fresh Air Fund in the USA who brought my attention to this really great cause. The Fresh Air Fund provides free summer camp holidays to children from families in New York City, who can’t afford to send their kids to camp or on holiday during their school break.
What really intrigued me about the initiative however is that they have a team of runners who are doing the New York City half-marathon, to help raise funds and awareness of this program. As you all know I’m all about using an event for something good, so if any of you are doing this race (its in on August 16th) and would like to run for a cause then sign up. Of course if I was in the USA I’d be doing it AND I’d gladly run for the Fresh Air Fund!
Good luck guys!!
Leave a Comment / July 22nd, 2009 / Fund Raising, Reluctant runner, Running
Running Charity Round-Up…
It seems the final numbers are in…
All pledges were honoured and with Ryan’s efforts in Canada coupled with mine, it seems we have managed to raise about R10 860 – that’s 17 kids whose school fees will be paid up for the entire year!!
I also want to thank a few people who had a huge impact on this little endeavour of mine:
- Everyone who was so generous and managed to spare some cash, especially since we’re all feeling rather pinched at the moment – Ryan’s friends (you know who you are), Shaun & Nicola, Ariane & Mdu, Brendan & Rebecca, Andy Duncan, Collin Budge and Russel Mackintosh (Russ was the one who said he’d double his pledge if I beat him, I came in 8 minutes after him!!).
- Ryan, for your enthusiasm and encouragement
- Craig for running the whole way with me and waiting for me when I needed to make pit-stops, that is what I call running-friend-loyalty!!
- Dad for maintaining your title of Worlds Best Second
- Mom for being my greatest fan and for all your support
- Barry for flying down to surprise me on the route (and for sending all the race updates on Twitter) – sorry I couldn’t stop and chat
- Stuart the bus driver who did a fantastic job of getting us all over the finish line in under 11 hours
Thanks to everyone who donated, wished us well, followed us on the day, sat through blow-by-blow accounts of the race and supported us every step of the way.
I’m thrilled with the positive response I’ve had regarding this project, I’ll keep everyone updated from time to time on how the little guys and girls in Red Hill informal settlement are doing.
2 Comments / June 12th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Motivation, Reluctant runner
20 Hours and 58 Minutes…
Ok everyone so we are within a day of the Comrades Marathon and I’m about to head off to Durban. If you want to keep track of me you can find out here.
I (ok not me, but someone who I’ve asked) will be updating my Twitter and Facebook status with my progress. I’m not sure how much time I’m going to have this afternoon so if I don’t manage to get online – See you at the end!!!
One Comment / May 23rd, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Half-marathon, Injuries, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training
How many kids??!!
So in my post about Running Charity partnerships, I told you about my friend Ryan over in Canada joining forces with me in raising money to send some kids to school. Today I got the final amount he was able to raise – CAD 1,155 which is around R8,400 which translates to almost 13 kids, YES that is 13 children who will now be able to go to school because of Ryan, which brings the total to about 19 children in our efforts so far!!!
Thanks everyone who has donated up until now and for those of you still contemplating it, here is some motivation…
Yip, looks different from this angle...
"Classroom"
Leave a Comment / May 22nd, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training
Running Charity Partnerships…
For the past couple of months I’ve been in email contact with Ryan, a South African living abroad, who is running the Comrades Marathon for the first time this year. It’s been great chatting to someone who is going through exactly the same things I went through last year (what am I talking about, I’m going through the same stuff THIS year)…
Anyway last week Ryan informed me that he is also raising funds for running the Comrades and instead of trying to find a charity at this short notice, he has decided to join me on my mission to send children in the Red Hill informal settlement, to school!!
I am so excited for this joint venture!! Let’s see how much we can raise…
For updates on all the donations and pledges, go to my Facebook Group – Let’s send some kids to school…
2 Comments / May 18th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training
8 Things you can do with your race medals
- Re-gift: It is a recession after all… Just remember that the karmic wheel is small, what goes around comes around…
- Diving weights: they even come with a handy ribbon to go around your neck, or just stuff into pockets for the desired effect.
- Ornamental Display: This can be used as a conversation starter, although you have to take note of who you bore to death with your running tales, or expect a sharp decline in friends!
- Use as a weapon: If you take the biggest medal (I have a pretty big and heavy one, complete with the profile of table mountain on it) and keep it in a handy place, when an intruder strikes, swing said medal above the head until desired momentum is achieved (you may yell here like the Highlanders used to) and aim for the head. Beware; this could lead to imprints of whatever medal you have used, so try not to do it as a joke…
- Table Stabilizers: When you have a table that rocks because it is on an uneven surface, use a medal – not as cheap looking as a piece of cardboard and can double up as #3
- Tooth Mouse/Fairy gifts: Again in keeping with #1, the alternative to money is sitting right there in front of you. Note: you might have to explain to Junior why he can’t put it in his piggy bank for the iPod he’s been saving up for.
- Pocket Money: Times are tough and you put in many hours and hard work for that medal, it is as valuable as money (in your mind anyway).
- Accessorise: My medals come in all shapes and sizes, you could start a new trend and pare a medal up with an outfit – see how the people in the office react. Note: again could be coupled with #3, especially if there were people at work who didn’t even know about that run where you got a cramp 30 minutes into the race and then needed a number 2 after 45 minutes…
My Medals
Leave a Comment / May 16th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Half-marathon, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running
International First Love Day…
Today is International First Love Day and I felt like I wanted to contribute…
When examining what qualifies someone or something as a “First Love” I was rather shocked to discover that running ticked all the boxes!
Love is about sacrifice – we all know about this when training for a specific race, I for one can’t even remember what my surfboard looks like or which way to put on my wetsuit, don’t even mention my friends (I have to write their names down to remember them).
You spend most of your time with those you love – don’t even get me started on how much time I spend running, thinking about running or planning a run.
First loves are like prized possessions – well we all know what I think about in times of crisis…
In all honesty though there are things about running which would qualify it as a first love, for me anyway. These are the things I love about running:
- An early morning run through a beautiful place, when it’s quiet and nobody is around
- The feeling of crossing the finish line of all of my races
- Having people come up to me at a race and say ‘Hey, aren’t you the Reluctant Runner?”
- The fact that it serves as a platform for me to give back in some small way
- The knowledge that I can do anything I put my mind to
I keep saying that after this Comrades Marathon I’m going to be putting running on the back burner and taking up all those other things which I enjoy doing, but in the back of my mind I wonder – will anything else be able to compare with that feeling of running across the finish line of the Ultimate Human Race…?
4 Comments / May 15th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training
Running Inspiration
Note: I have sorted out my PayPal issues, so donating is going to be as easy as pressing SEND
I also found what I’m going to be using as my inspiration for when I’m feeling dog tired and ready to keel over (other than all you folks who have donated).
I first heard about this father and son team from my friend Glen, check out the video, you won’t be disappointed!
Leave a Comment / May 13th, 2009 / Comrades Marathon, Fund Raising, Motivation, Reluctant runner, Running, Training