Monday, April 13, 2009

One week to go…

Mark

Hi everyone…here’s what’s On My Radar today…yes indeed, it is now less than one week until the Boston Marathon. What’s the big deal? Well, I happen to be running it this year. Got into it sort of late this year. A foundation I am close to happened to contact me in late January, asking me to run on their behalf. I couldn’t say no to the opportunity…1). because it’s the Boston Marathon but more importantly 2). because it’s to support the Blazeman Foundation for ALS.

Jon Blais aka “The Blazeman” was a classmate of mine at Seekonk High School in the late ‘80s. Jon was an excellent swimmer and track athlete who found the sport of triathlon long before it became wildly popular. Tragically, Jon was diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, in May 2005. In October of that year he became the first athlete with ALS to complete the Ironman World Championship in Kona, HI. Perhaps some of you saw his story play out on NBC 3 1/2 years ago, it was the most inspiring story I’ve ever watched. My wife & I had tears running down our cheeks as we watched Jon “log roll” across the finish line…a move done with the intention of raising awareness of ALS.

Well it certainly got my attention and that of hundreds of other “Blazeman Warriors” who are committed to raising awareness as well as raising the necessary funds to cure this horrific disease. That is why I am running…is it a personal challenge, absolutely. I LOVE challenging myself to see what I can accomplish and believe me, a marathon is something I have dreamed of attempting but the thought of training was not a pleasant one since I am not a big fan of distance running. But I accepted the challenge in late January because of the Foundation and because of the Blais family whom I have known for quite sometime. I accepted this challenge to raise awareness and raise as much money as I can, to do as much as I possibly can to help find a cure so other individuals AND other families don’t have to suffer like Jon and the Blais family.

What can you do? Well you can start by becoming better informed. Check out the site http://www.waronals.com/index.php and watch the video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vrjp2P0GlE  of Jon in the 2005 Ironman. Perhaps you too will be inspired to help out. I appreciate your interest in the “cause” and if you care to follow my progress you can log onto the Marathon website http://www.bostonmarathon.org and enter my bib number 24522 and see where I am and how I am doing. I have a “personal time” goal in mind but my overall goal of helping to bring an end to ALS is much bigger…look for my “log roll for awareness” as I cross that finish line…I can’t wait Thanks for reading!