BB Community:

I will be running in the Cleveland Marathon this coming Sunday, May 18th. Originally, I had no motivation other than to see if I could meet the challenge of completing my second marathon. I ran the 2005 race and entered this year trying to improve upon my time.

But now I have a better reason. Recently, my mom received word that she must resume her battle against cancer. So I thought I could raise money with her as my motivation by collecting contributions for the American Cancer Society. My goal is to raise $2,000. I know some of you were close to Plawrence, who lost his fight with this terrible disease in 2006. We all probably know someone who has been impacted by cancer and we need to find a cure.

If you wish to sponsor me, the race is 26.2 miles. While I can guarantee that I will not be this year's winner , I have every intention of finishing the race (barring injury). Final race results/finishing times will be posted on the official Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon website.

I will post my finishing time by Sunday evening, hopefully along with a picture or two.

If you wish to donate, please PM me and I will give you my mailing address.

If anyone thinks this is a scam, I request that all checks be made out directly to the American Cancer Society. To reiterate, I am not collecting donations on behalf of any single individual. If there is a specific area that you wish to designate your contribution, please feel free. Here is some additional information regarding different areas for contributions: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/DON/content/DON_0.1_General_Donation.asp

I prefer to collect and send all contributions at one time. No contribution is too small. Your check or money order donation is tax deductible - the American Cancer Society should send you something to verify your contribution. Please do NOT send cash.

I plan to send all contributions by June 7, 2008.

Thanks,
Goombah

I think it's wonderful what you're doing, and I applaud your efforts. I am so sorry to hear about your mother. It's a very difficult battle, and as the daughter of a cancer survivor, and one myself, I know that you are doing a wonderful thing.

Please feel free to PM your contact info.

Go Goom Go. A noble gesture for a good cause.

Good for you goombah, hope the marathon goes ok for you.

Goombah, I posted in here earlier this morning but it's gone now. (Why is that Geoffy?)

Anyhoo I would love to donate to this great cause. My mother passed away from cancer. PLEASE pm me with your info. You will do great my fellow Ohioian!!

All my best to your Mom.

Good luck goombah. Cancer sucks. I know. I battled stage 3 colon cancer at an age (33) that you should not have to. Luckily, I'm still here.

Thanks everybody. I have PM'd those who have asked - please let me know if they did not come through. I saw you posted earlier, Mig, but I could not view it either.

Just Lou - I'm glad to hear that you are okay. That is way too young of an age, I agree.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts, well wishes, and generosity!

Have you been training alot to get ready for this Goombah?

Yes, Mig, for about 3 months. The training involves a progressive increase of mileage over time. My really long runs are on the weekened, and I usually do about 12-15 miles during the week. My longest runs in training were 18, 20, and then 21 miles.

I am ready and am hoping for dry, pleasant weather. I don't mind rain if it's warm, but would prefer dry and overcast (to keep from squinting and to prevent sunburn). The race starts at 7:00 a.m. and I hope to finish in 4 hrs - 4hrs 15 minutes.

That is awesome Goombah. I will keep my finger's crossed for good weather.

Good luck both with the run and reaching your financial goal.

I would encourage you to use the organization's opportunity to develop a web page. I am 95% sure this event has that opportunity and I know ACS uses this format for other fundraising events.

1. They are very simple to create.

2. You can send a simple blast e-mail to friends family, etc... to direct them to your personal page.

3. People can make an easy and secure contribution via credit card or debit card online (and get an immediate contribution statement.

4. It also allows you to make a simple and easy thank you letter, etc...

5. Send me your info and I will donate. However, I don't even know where my checkbook is anymore LOL -- I do all my bills online and can renmember the last time I wrote a check. THUS the convienance of having an online page with the opportunity to make a contribution.

Anyway -- good luck and I am sure your mom is proud of you fot trying to make a difference.

Great cause, Goombah. Cancer took my Mom in 2002. Please pm me with the details.

Thanks for the great suggestion. I am in the process of making the page. Once I have time to play around with it, I will post the link.

That's a great idea, Goombah. See, Part's good for something.

Goombah, that's great. Good luck with the run for such a wonderful cause. If you get any pictures, post them for us ok?

Happy trails!!

TIS

Good luck with that Goombah,a truly worthy cause!

Just last Sunday i did a 5 mile run for kids with cancer and that exhausted me so you have my admiration on all counts

Thanks Yogi and TIS!

I am retiring from marathons after this weekend. I think the longest I will do in the future is a half marathon, a much more palatable 13.1 miles. Easier training and much less wear and tear on the body.

The 5 mile runs are fun - I usually do one every year on Thanksgiving for charity unless I'm sick or the weather is awful. Right now, I'm at the point where I can pretty much do 5-7 miles with my eyes closed.

One of the Turkey Trot runs I did was when my wife was pregnant with our first child. I ran the five miles in 20 degree weather and she came to cheer me on. But it was early in her pregnancy and she was the one who came home and had to sleep for 2 hours!

I did my 5 miler with my oldest 3 kids. They helped carry me home the last 4 and a half miles

I'm looking forward to stuff like that when my kids are a bit older. Sounds very cool, Yogi. The kids will keep you motivated, no doubt about it.

Geez, I can't even run to the end of my street without being winded and my legs hurt.

Goombah, What's your weather forecast for tomorrow?

For Sunday morning's race, the Weather Channel's hour by hour forecast is calling for some rain at 7 am through about 11 am, with temps around 50. I would prefer a bit warmer and definitely dry, but we'll see. When I was on this morning, they said it would be dry. I'll believe it when I see it. Of course, they're calling for 81 degrees by next Friday.

For those of you who wished me well, thank you. I ran today and finished the race in 4 hrs, 3 minutes, and 32 seconds. It was at an average pace of 9 minutes, 17 seconds per mile. I really started off well and (understandably) slowed as the race wore on. I finished 14 miles right at the 2 hr mark, which was my best-case scenario. I was very pleased with my time as my goal was to finish by 4 hrs, 15 minutes.

My goal heading into the race was to improve upon my time from 2005: 4 hrs, 39 minutes. I was ecstatic to shave nearly 36 minutes off that time. I did not walk (although I wanted to) for more than 30-40 seconds at any point.

The weather was horrible at the outset. It was a steady rain, with temps in the upper 40s, and 15-20 mph hr wind. But the rain dissipated and by the midpoint of the race, it was sunny. The wind was brutal for the last 6 miles. For the most part, we ran into a strong wind, which when one is already fatigued, is not easy.

All in all, it was a fun day. My friend ran the last 8 miles with me, so she kept me mind off of stopping/slowing too much. She kept me motivated and was a positive influence.

I'll try to post a picture later if any came out clearly. My wife, bless her heart, drove around to 4 different stops along the way. It's not easy getting around because so many of the main roads are closed for the runners. My wife gave me Advil, drinks, and best of all, dry socks at the halfway point. My first pair were so waterlogged that it was like running in sponges. It made a huge difference to not have wet feet and re-energized me for awhile.

It was nice because there were a lot of spectators out, cheering the runners along. I figured that the weather would keep the spectators to a minimum, but that was not the case. Not only were there marathoners, but there was a 10K and half marathon run as part of the day. The athletes who really have my admiration are those in wheelchairs. I saw this wheelchair-bound guy at the 24 mile marker struggling up what was an unforgiving hill, gritting it out inch-by-inch. I just wanted to give him a push, but could just see on his face that is the last thing he would have wanted.

Anyway, I'm tired, somewhat sore, and glad to be done. I haven't eaten that much today and now I am getting hungry. I expect to sleep like a baby tonight.

That's great Goombah!! Congratulations! It's gotta be a great feeling no doubt!!! And, for a great cause. I look forward to seeing pictures. How many ended up participating?

Btw, I'm sore just thinking about how you must be aching right now.

Good job my friend!!!

TIS

Nice work goombah.

Goombah, that's terrific! I'm really proud of you.

If positive feelings really can help those battling this disease, then you just gave your mom the greatest gift in the world.

WTG Goombah. I was thinking about you doing the run today. I am also proud of you. Is this run a annual thing you do? Get something to eat, get a nice hot shower and hit the hay. You did good my nieghbor.

BTW that was so sweet of your wife to bring you dry socks.

Nice job Goombah! Congratulations on a valiant effort and terrific results. Running in those conditions is tough. I know the wind can be a killer and then to have waterlogged socks.....ugh! Fantastic improvement in time despite the conditions. Thanks for sharing this experience. Looking forward to a picture.

According to our local news, it sounded like about 10,000 participants.

I'll see if I was in any of the pictures taken by the organizers of the race. There are cameras set up throughout the course. The one problem is that I had a jacket on and a shirt beneath it. My shirt was where my race number was pinned to and I had the jacket on until the 18th mile. So I may be anonymous in some of the pictures.

My wife was so busy doing other things to help me that she only snapped 1 picture of me. And I was almost entirely out of the screen. I can't complain for all that she did to help.

I'm just glad that you didn't sleep through it, Goombah. I was betting on the snooze, but Jerry thinks it would have been the am/pm that got you.