This picture was taken at the St. Jude Country Music
Marathon Expo. The full caption says
“Let your Hear Race, Run For Charity”. (Sorry if it's a little blurry) On Friday, I had no idea how much that would mean to me on Saturday.
I was sad. I
was confused. I felt lost.
I had lost one of the biggest loves of my life. I had fallen out of love with
running. I didn’t want to do it
anymore. I didn’t have a reason to
run. What difference was I making? Who was I going to impact?
I saw thousands of runners proudly showing support for their
causes: St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team In
Training, American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation, Wounded Warriors Project,
Team 4:13, Girls on the Run, Black Girls Run, and countless other groups of
friends, family, and co-workers united for a cause.
There were seas of t-shirts listing who that runner was
dedicated to that day… “I’m running in memory of my mom, dad, daughter, son,
grandparent, best friend”, “I’m running in honor of ______”. Countless pictures of happy families torn
apart by a bitch named Cancer.
T-shirts filled with inspirational quotes, encouraging others that they
can do this. If I had this
inspiration and motivation, maybe I wouldn’t have quit.
I realized on Saturday that I was running because I’m
selfish. I was running for me and
that wasn’t good enough. I can get
up and work out every morning for me.
That’s all I need. But to
run miles and miles on end, I needed a deeper reason.
I know I love running.
I just need to be in love with running again. So here I am, asking all my friends, why do you run?
Is there a cause or charity that you love? What can I do to use my love for
running to help someone else? I
want to run for those who can’t run for themselves. I want to use my gifts to
help others… but whom? Who can I
help?
Send me your suggestions… I’m looking to rededicate myself
to something special. Something
that can really make a difference….
When it’s 95 degrees this summer and 6pm rolls around, I
won’t want to do a training run.
But the 5-year-old girl with cancer doesn’t want another round of
chemo. The young soldier in
Afghanistan doesn’t want to lose his leg to protect my freedom… but they do
it. They do it because they’re
fighters. Both of these examples
are true hero of those fighting for a cause. I want to do something to help them and others like them.
I want to go for a training run and know that I’m doing this
for something amazing, something that will truly pay off and be bigger than I
ever imagined. My next race will
be with a purpose and have great meaning to many others and me.
I'm going to race from my heart...
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