Title: Royal Victoria Marathon
Start Time: 7:00am
Date: 2009-10-11
TEAM JACK!
I have a new twist to my offer… Please read on…
Many of you have already read about how to become part of ‘TEAM JACK’ …on October 11th. Our team is currently 45 strong! Congratulations and THANK YOU! Do you still wanting to participate?
You still can. Here are 4 options:
1. Go to www.royalvictoriamarathon.com and register into any of the distances; the 8k, the ½ marathon (21.1 km), the full marathon (42.2 km) and the kid’s run. BUT please make sure you register under TEAM JACK. You will see this option in the team drop down listing under each event. Note: For the kids run… you will have to type in TEAM JACK under the club/affiliation line as we are not actually a school… Thank you!
2. Email JACK at jack@westhavers4kids.com and say, “Hey Jack tell your mom I will walk &/or run for kids too – sign me up for the relay!” I would love to do kilometer # ____ ! More details below for this option!!
3. Join us at the TEAM JACK kick off on Friday, October 9th at St. Joseph’s School at 7pm. TEAM JACK member Lucy Smith, one of the favourites to win the marathon will be our guest speaker. Enjoy a snack, meat some team members AND pick up a TEAM JACK t-shirt… $5 a shirt!
4. Lastly, go to www.westhavers4kids.com and find ways how you too can help kids facing life threatening illnesses get better! You will find info here about the Grizzlies Cub Fund that began in 2007 and ongoing ways you can help too…all for kids!
What is the relay all about?
The RVM (Royal Victoria Marathon) approved my proposal back in the spring to run alongside 40 other individuals between kilometres 2-41… Yes I have to start and finish on my own. My original dream was to motivate 40 individuals to help me raise money for childhood cancer research. I was quickly injured and out ‘of the running’ and sadly put this vision to rest. Well…Jack’s smile has not diminished through his ordeal and of course, as his stubborn mother, I wasn’t accepting ‘can’t’ for my reason. One step at a time is my only expectation… the same one we have Jack.
So here is my proposal to you… I hope that you can join me in making this happen…
• If you are interested in walking or running a kilometre with me… let me know! If you want to do more that is great too!
• I will be starting at 6:30am on October 11th… with a very casual pace… running and walking… crawling and perhaps requesting the odd piggy back! Please do not feel you need to perform at any particular level… we are moving in the right direction as long as we are upright! We have 7 hours to cross the finish line!
• Kelly Derrick an amazing ‘manager’ will be helping me to stay on track by coordinating this unique relay. We will have estimated times of arrivals and departures. Once you are signed up you will receive the ‘how to’ details from Kelly!
• Do you have to officially pay to enter the marathon? No – I am the entrant into the event BUT… I am encouraging each leg participant of this relay to go out and raise money and awareness for the cause… we as a team want to WIN the race against childhood cancers. How much? 42.2 kilometres… could we raise a minimum $100 a kilometre? There is no limit!
Why? I have made up a list of reasons why I want to do this… why even more now… here are a couple:
• 97 shots of chemotherapy to date
• 3 bone marrow biopsies
• 9 lumbar punctures
• 8 blood transfusions
• 4 platelet transfusions
• A meeting on March 6th explaining your child’s diagnoses that I will never forget…
• A smile that hasn’t stopped… and a body that hasn’t stopped changing, showing us the effects of one nasty disease.
I am not at all trained to complete this distance, nor am I negating the fact that 42.2 kilometres is NOT a walk in the park. I will set out and do as much as I can. Jack and kids that are told they are sick, have no training for what their bodies are about to endure or how drastically their ‘kid life’ will change. However, I have learned a lot over the past 7 months, from Jack, from Marty, Andy & Jake and from every new little face I have met at the hospital. I will draw from their strength.
Consider joining me on the relay… do it for the kids that cannot run or walk right now because they are sick… let’s move for them because we CAN make a difference.