Team Cross Runs

Running from Apathy

Today, Dec 1 is World AIDS Day.  You really should read this article about hope from Relevant

I left Desalech with an amazing sense of hope, and also urgency. She had seen her life turn around. But I could only imagine how many other women there were like Desalech who desperately needed help: life-saving help.

I had traveled to Ethiopia with a couple of other World Vision staff who worked solely with Team World Vision. They basically recruited people to run marathons in honor of people like Desalech in Africa, raising awareness and asking for financial support in the process. This marathon thing, to me, was an absolutely ridiculous idea.

In seventh grade, I was the girl who faked being sick to avoid running one mile in gym class. Chalk it up to all the classic reasons: self-consciousness, fear of failure, embarrassment. I dreaded that one mile so much that I probably wasn’t actually faking sickness at all. The thought of running for even 10 (OK, maybe 14) minutes, coupled with the resulting humiliation of it all, was enough to make me physically ill. Let’s just say that my aversion to sports did not improve throughout high school. Or college.

Be sure to read the whole article.

Technorati Tags: Relevant, World AIDS Day, World Vision

Run Barefoot Across USA?

That is what Tellman Knudson, 32, is currently doing.  His journey began in New York in September and he is currently in Ohio somewhere.

According to his website, Run Tellman Run:

Two hundred or so runners have successfully run across the continental United States. Most ran for a cause, others for just the challenge. Tellman Knudson has taken on a $100 million dollar mission to help homeless and at-risk youth. He is dedicated to reaching this goal, like he has been in reaching goals his entire life.

I think you must be a little crazy to run across the country.  Let alone barefoot.

His journey will take him on a southern arc through the country with stops along the way at homeless shelters for youth.  He has a lot of information about why this is an important issue for all of us to care about.

From the donate page:

His goal is to raise $100,000,000 to donate to the shelters, organizations and on-the-ground volunteers across the country that help homeless teens get food, get shelter, and rebuild their lives.

Tellman will run 3,200 miles barefoot… but he needs your help.

Your contribution will help us meet our fundraising goal to give every homeless teenager in America hope and help in 2010.

That would $31,250 per mile that Tellman needs to raise.

I can’t seem to find out how the money will be distributed.  Will Tellman create a foundation and give out grants?  Or will the money go to whomever he feels like?  Will it be split up among the shelters he stops at?  There also isn’t information about how he is being supported as a runner. Nor can I find how much has already been donated.

I love the idea and the effort he is taking to raise awareness of this oft forgotten segment of the youth population.

HT: Outside Mag

Give to the Max

For 24 hours, starting at 8:00 am on November 17^th, every donation made through www.GiveMN.org will be eligible to receive a portion of the $500,000 match. These funds were contributed by the Minneapolis Foundation, St. Paul Foundation and Bush Foundation. Also, generous funders are defraying donation processing fees on this site, so 100% of your gift goes straight to the organization!

In addition to the matching funds, the three nonprofits that receive the most individual donations will receive cash prizes: $5,000 for first prize, $2,500 for second, and $1,000 for third.

Over 36,000 organizations have a profile on the site. Thirty-two show up when I type “running” into the search engine though most of them aren’t running related or are too specific for my purposes. So I helped narrow it down for you.

Running Related

• Minnesota Distance Running Association (MDRA) is my running family in Minneapolis.  It is one of the largest clubs in MN and does some great work.
• Twin Cities Running Club (TC Running) they are a “rival” USATF team but it is all fun and games.
• Team USA – MN is a post-collegiate training center and group for runners to be coached and supported while they strive to fulfill their athletic goals.
• Bolder Options is a great youth mentoring program that connects youth and mentors through running (and biking) activities.  I would highly recommend volunteering as a mentor with Bolder Options.
• MN Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contains 13 member colleges that support student athletes.
• YWCA provides a variety of services to pretty much every population. They focus primarily on racial justice and empowering women and girls. In Minneapolis they also operate 3 fitness facilities. We are a member of the YWCA.
• YMCA also provides a variety of services and operates a lot of fitness facilities around Minneapolis and the West Metro. Some of our friends work for the YMCA, though none of their facilities are conveniently located for us.

Below are 7 organizations that I have given to or would give to if I had more money! (in no particular order)

• Longfellow United for Youth and Family have played a huge role on my work here in MN. LUYF is a coalition of community members and churches that provide a free tutoring program and strongly support the work of the Sanford Job Corps – one of my primary responsibilites at Sanford.
• Elpis Enterprises has been another great partner for my work in MN. Elpis or Hope provides teenagers the opportunity to gain work-related skills and leadership through screen printing and other businesses. My first encouter with Elpis was with their bird feeder program. We bought kits and Paul brought out one of his employees and they helped my kids build 20 bird feeders in 1 hour!
• Achieve Minneapolis is more or less a foundation that supports programs within the Minneapolis Public Schools. They provide grants for classrooms, teacher professional development, field trips, host career fairs, and much much more.
• CommonBond Communities provides affordable housing and supportive services in the Twin Cities. I put CommonBond under youth development because I volunteered with them during the summer of my Americorps*VISTA service. I served as a program assistant in a summer program that combined fun and learning during the afternoons for children residents of the Seward Towers. They provide many more services to their residents.
• World Relief helps refugees adjust to life in Minnesota and America. This is the umbrella organization for the English literacy site that Christy and I co-coordinate. They also provide job training, initial welcoming services, housing assistance and much more to refugees as they walk off the plane and into the sometimes harsh tundra of MN.
• Minnesota Public Radio is a great news source for both local and national issues. They also have a rocking music station that plays a lot of local bands.
• Second Harvest of the Heartland is a large food bank that is helping to end hunger in MN. It is affiliated with the national Feeding America (formerly Second Harvest Network) and does some great work here in the Twin Cities.

100 Miles, 5 Days, 1 Goal

Would you willing run 5 20 milers in a row? That is what local runner Rob Donahue decided to do this week.  His purpose – to raise awareness about Big Brothers and Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities.  He has a more specific goal of inspiring 100 men to become “big brothers.”

100 Miles for 100 MENtors is focused on getting men to be more active in their communities, specifically by being mentors with Big Brothers and Big Sisters. I can speak from experience that it is harder to find positive male role models for young boys and they often need it the most.  I won’t go into a long tangent, but the need for male role models is much greater than is currently being filled.  Many organizations offer opportunities for both men and women to get involved in the life of  a child.  Most of the time they are encouraging fun things like playing games, going to the park, or other experiential opportunities.  I would encourage you to look in your area for some type of youth mentoring program.

Another great organization in the Twin Cities is Bolder Options.  They specifically use running and biking as the foundation of the mentoring relationship.

Back to Rob and his challenge.  You can follow his journey at the 100 miles for 100 MENtors blog.  Here is a link a short clip from local TV station WCCO about the challenge.

Technorati Tags: Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Mentors, Mentoring

Running to Fight Cancer

Local runner and cancer advocate Matthew Flory recently created a Facebook group entitled 5Ks that Fight Cancer (Minneapolis/Saint Paul).

In the group he lists 10 5ks that benefit cancer research within the Twin Cities metro area.  In the group’s description he say:

Cancer is the number one cause of death in Minnesota, but there are many organizations and causes joined in the fight to defeat this disease. Many have 5k races as fundraisers.

We all know that most races have some charitable benefit to them.  Some of the best known national charity running events revolve around cancer research.  Almost everyone has been touched by this nasty illness.  The Team in Training group is a nationally recognized fundraising machine.

Flory limited his list for this group to just 5k races – they are the most common and most accessible for average people. Here is his list:

Get Your Rear In Gear, Minneapolis, April 19, 2009
http://www.getyourrearingear.com/
Proceeds benefit the Minnesota Colon Cancer Coalition

Twin Cities Race For the Cure, May 10, 2009
http://www.racecure.org/site3.aspx
Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Foundation

Brian Kraft Memorial 5k, May 25, 2009
http://www.usatfmn.org/brian-kraft-memorial-5k
Proceeds benefit University of Minnesota

Challenge Cancer 5K, Saint Paul, June 6
Proceeds benefit Charities Challenge

Twin Cities Lung Walk 5K, Saint Paul, June 7
www.lungwalk.org
Proceeds benefit the American Lung Association

Time to Fly Walk/Run, Saint Paul, June 27th
Proceeds benefit Child Cancer Research Fund

American Cancer Society 5K, Bloomington, August 15th
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

Silent No More Minnesota Ovarian Cancer September 13, 2009
Proceeds benefit the MN Ovarian Cancer Alliance

The Hartford Pace Case Run/Walk for Prostate Cancer, September 26, 2009
Proceeds will benefit the Prostate Cancer Education Council.

ACS Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Minneapolis, October 10, 2009
Proceeds benefit the American Cancer Society

So if you like to run for specific causes this might be a helpful group to check out.

Technorati Tags: Running, Cancer, Charity

Guest Post: Team One Verse

Today I’m turning over the writing duties to Allison Martin.  We heard from her back in December of 2007 in a Guest Review of the St Jude Marathon. Allison started running in 2005 and slowly added on the miles, completing her third marathon in October 2008. She lives and runs in Indianapolis, works at a running store, and is going back to school to teach high school English.

In the past year, I began to learn about the need for Bible translation. While I own five Bibles, there are over 2,000 language groups around the world who don’t have the Bible in their own language. These groups represent approximately 196 million people. I’m also a runner, though not a fast one, and have completed three marathons now. (Each one a little faster thankfully!) When I learned about the great need for translation, I wanted to find a way to spread the gospel and do it by running 26.2 miles!

I learned about One Verse, an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators, through a friend and reached out to them to see if there was an opportunity to start a running team to raise money for Bible translation. Amazingly, the people I spoke with caught the vision and have allowed me to work with them to start Team OneVerse!

One Verse works specifically with national speakers who begin or complete the translation process for their own people group. Guided by a team of translators around the world, the Bible is steadily being translated into every language. Team OneVerse takes the preparation, determination, and energy to run a marathon and infuses it with the ability to raise funds and awareness for this translation process.

How does it work? We’re starting with a focus on the Chicago Marathon, but any race is great. Runners around the country will train together on their own or in local groups. During their training, every person will set the goal to raise $1500, which is over 55 verses translated into a previously unreached language for $26 each (the average cost of translation as calculated by One Verse).

I want to invite you to join Team OneVerse and be part of the translation process through running. This is a chance for you to use the sport you love to build God’s kingdom and hopefully set a new PR in the process! If you’re not able to be part of the team physically, but feel a call to give and support the team as a necessary encourager, your prayers and involvement is needed. Please share with your friends about the team. Or maybe God has a place for you in the translation process. Please pray about where you can join Team OneVerse. You can learn more about the team at www.teamoneverse.org.

Happy Running!
~Allison

Technorati Tags: Team One Verse, Bible Translation, Chicago Marathon

Race Review: Giving Thanks 5K

This race has outgrown its humble beginnings.  It wasn’t clear to me when I registered that this was a “fun run” had I known that I might have chosen a different race or just run with another group of friends.  Nonetheless, we had a fun time and enjoyed the beautiful Thanksgiving morning!

We arrived in plenty of time, checked-in, and waited around.  There was hot water with instant coffee, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider available.  I went for the cider and Nathan, Mike, and Emily went for the coffee – I was the only one who walked away happy.  Registration went smoothly and Nathan and I did a warm-up lap around Como Lake. It is about 1.6 miles around the lake and we got a little confused by the mile markers. They didn’t represent miles or kilometers….

Como Lake is a nice setting for a race and it was a beautiful morning.  Upper 20’s or lower 30’s and a lot wind, with the lake having a thin layer of ice on top.  Some snow lingered around the lake and frost on the little dock.  The rising sun would have made for an amazing picture – but I forgot my camera and I’m not good at creating a word picture, so just imagine it!

We made our way to the starting line and waited, and waited, and waited some more.  They were waiting to get everyone out of the registration area.  The race director made some announcements, but some in the crowd were getting a little anxious to start.  We finally started exactly 15 minutes late.  The director had tried to help the front of the pack separate into some semblance of finish times which if people actually followed would have made for a decent start.  At these races though no one really starts in the right spot unless they are super-fast on the front line!

I was on the far outside 3-5 rows deep and was able to dart out and around a huge chunk of slower runners. Paul, another runner in our group, got stuck on the inside and struggled to get around slower runners. I settled into a comfortable pace and started picking off runners, while dodging walkers.  Even during the first lap there was a lot of walkers on the trail.  Some were neighbors of the lake, while others were wearing race numbers and should have started behind us…  For the first lap it wasn’t too much of a problem because they were in small groups.  About .75 miles into the race we turned a corner and got hit by a pretty strong headwind which we faced for about the next mile.  Shortly before the first mile mark a father was letting his 4 young boys run around with the runners.  They paid no attention to us almost cutting me off a few times.  I think if this wasn’t a holiday I may have gotten upset.  I tried to stay relaxed and have some fun. I was enjoying slowly picking people off!  I ran the first mile in 6:37.

It was pretty much more of the same as we came through the finish line area and back past the starting line. At this point the trail started to really be getting crowded with walkers, strollers, and dogs. I tried to stay relaxed and zigged and zagged my way around them without making any quick movements and trying to run the tangents as much as possible. I was feeling pretty relaxed and comfortable as I came through mile 2 in 6:35.

The last mile was all in the wind again which wasn’t overly pleasant and the runners were pretty spread out while the walkers were getting thicker. I looked up ahead and saw a woman running and a man in shorts and set myself to try and beat them both.  So I slowly picked up the pace and worked on my zig zag technique and ran mile 3 in 6:16.

As we turned the corner into the homestretch I still hadn’t caught either of the people I wanted to pass and couldn’t see shorts guy anymore but the woman was with in reach – as long as she didn’t kick too hard! I turned it on and went flying past her and strode across the finish line, pretty happy with myself!! The last 0.1 miles was in 0:32 which is 4:41 pace!  Overall 5K time was 20:01.  I had no expectations for this race so that was fine… it would have been nice to get under 20 since I was so close, but oh well!!

Talking with people who know the race director they said something like 600 people had pre-registered for the event, for smaller events you plan to double your pre-registered numbers, but there was a 700 participant limit.  I would wager that they got pretty close.  Since this was a fun run they didn’t have an official timing system or results.  In his pre-race announcements the director indicated that next year they will be changing the course so that the runners aren’t lapping the walkers and creating a mess in the middle of the race.  That would be a most excellent idea, especially if they can keep it flat! I occasionally enjoy low-key events and this would rank up there as fairly low-key. Charities Challenge is trying to encourage everyone to exercise and it is a hard balance between attracting lots of runners (of all speeds) and families who just want to walk together while supporting a good cause.

A lot of the walkers had pinned sheets of paper on their backs which said, “I am thankful for…” It was a good reminder throughout the race that I should be thankful for my abilities.  Many of them were too long to actually read while I ran by, but it is nice to see people celebrating family!

Media Coverage Pre-Race on Kare11

Note: if you zoomed in really close on the map you could see the zig and zag but at the zoom level above it just looks like the same course.

Technorati Tags: Thanksgiving, 5K, Race Review, Charities Challenge