World Vision Runners - provided by DVA

Sunday was the inaugural 13.1 Minneapolis Half Marathon. Part of the event proceeds support World Vision‘s work with clean water in Kenya (the same as my fundraising).

The Inaugural 13.1® Minneapolis took more than 2,500 runners and walkers on a course filled with festivities, beautiful scenery and live entertainment. Kicking off near St. Anthony Main and ending at Nokomis Park, the half marathon and Karhu 5K, proved to truly be where the party met the pavement.

Coming in first was Chad Ernst, 22, a lieutenant in the Marine Corps, with a time of 1:13:50. “I was pleased with

everything about the race, especially finishing first,” said Ernst, who has been running since he was ten years old

but had never won a race this large. Other top male runners included Christian Mihelich, coming in second at

1:16:32, followed closely by Jonathon Balabuck who finished the race at 1:17:38.

The first female to cross the finish line was Leah Thorvilson, 31, with a time of 1:26:11. Thorvilson recently

qualified for the Olympic trials marathon team and has run over 150 races in the past 3 years. “I’ve competed

in a lot of races and was really impressed with this one, particularly the turn out for an inaugural race,” said

Thorvilson.

Charity partner Team WorldVision has raised more than $150,000 and expects to top the $200,000 mark overall

for the race. The money will go towards providing clean water for more than 68,000 children and families and

90,000 livestock in Kenya, Africa.

Taken from the official release.  Full results can be found here.

I’ve been busy and haven’t done a very good job of promoting my fundraising efforts for Water Projects in Kenya.  Nevertheless, families need clean access to water throughout the world.  Can you imagine not having clean water? You couldn’t wash your dishes, laundry, or even get a drink.  You could wash your hair but it wouldn’t be soft and you’d need more than conditioner to make it look good.

What would you do?

We turn on the faucet and clean water comes out.  Occasionally, during the snow melt in Minneapolis our water has some weird smells to it and tastes a little odd, but it is still safe to drink.  We snuff our noses and buy bottled water.  Some people don’t have that choice.  They spend hours each day to get water that we’d refuse to drink.

We can change that.

Watch this video and consider making a donation on my behalf for clean water in Kenya.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx-2UtqmjyY

DONATE TODAY FOR CLEAN WATER!

I’ve decided to join with Team World Vision again, to help change lives in Africa. I am running the Ragnar Relay from Winona, MN to Minneapolis. I along with 11 others will complete the 193 mile journey along the Mississippi River. This is very appropriate since this year money raised through Team World Vision will support clean water projects in Africa. Will you sponsor me?

I am raising money to help dig wells and provide clean water in places like Kenya. When a community gains access to clean water, here’s what happens:

> The infant mortality rate is cut in half
> Children can attend school instead of walking up to 6 miles for water each day
> Women can spend time learning a trade to support their family instead of collecting water
> Overall health is improved with clean water and sanitation
> Crops and livestock thrive with clean water and proper irrigation

The problem of poverty can seem overwhelming. But I believe there is something we can do. Whether you can give $10 or $1000, no amount is too small. Together we can help change lives in Africa.

Thanks for your support.

Please take a second to visit this link.

http://twv.convio.net/goto/crossrunstheriver

Thanks again,

Nick

PS. Team World Vision is part of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization. Your donation is tax-deductible, and you can learn more about the organization on their website: http://www.teamworldvision.org.

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Dear friend who may or may not occasionally run,

I decided to do something a little crazy, especially since I’ve been suffering from Plantar Fasciitis and my knee randomly swelled up on me recently.

I signed up a team for the Ragnar Relay – Great River edition. On August 20 and 21 this race goes from Winona, WI to Minneapolis, MN and traverses 193 miles in the process. With 12 people running out of 2 vans the average distance any one runner runs is 16.1 miles. Over three runs and two days that isn’t too scary of an idea. Throw in the fun of running together and 15 passenger vans and it is a piece of cake.

I signed up for four reasons, 1 – we saved a good chunk of money on registration fees 2 – I got two free Ragnar headlamps, which will come in handy during the night-time legs of the race 3 – Ragnar posts a fairly easy training plan that starts April 9 and 4 – children are still dying for lack of healthy water.

To make the race even more exciting I and (ideally) the whole team will be raising money for Team World Vision. All money raised this year for Team World Vision will support water projects in Kenya and other African countries. World Vision is an amazing organization and I’m sure you’ve heard of it, if you haven’t I’ll direct you to this series that I wrote on my blog. My goal is to raise $2,000 again this year, which averages out to about $10.37 per mile of the relay.

So what I need from you is two things. First, I need you to e-mail and say that you are excited to join Team Run the River for Africa. I actually have to add you to the team on Ragnar’s site, we’ll then make arrangements for you to get me your $85 registration fee and a signed waiver. Secondly, assuming you want to help support water projects in Kenya you’ll need to visit Team World Vision’s site and signup under our team.  (This isn’t a requirement but I’d like the entire team to be wearing Team World Vision jerseys.)

What do you think? Are you up to the challenge? I’m sure you are! We’ll iron out more of the logistical details over the next few months.

I’m pretty excited about this and look forward to running with you.

Nick

PS. As if that wasn’t crazy enough, Team World Vision is hosting a 13.1 mile race in Minneapolis on August 22. This is one of their big national events and a portion of all proceeds goes towards their water programs. Additionally, there will be a ton of World Vision focused stuff going on with hopefully 1,000′s of runners sporting TWV Orange. When I first came up with this idea, I was planning on doing the relay and finishing with the 13.1 mile event on Sunday. I’m taking a more cautious wait & see approach on that right now, but if you do it, I’ll probably do it too! If you were a little bit of a chicken and wanted to only commit to running the 13.1 that’s fine too, I suppose. You can still join my Team World Vision team!

PPS. Ragnar Relay rules require us to provide 3 volunteers to help throughout the weekend at aid stations, etc. We may also enjoy having additional drivers and nighttime bike riders/pacers. So let me know if your interested in that too!

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

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

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.

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 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

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

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