Woohooo!

Many thanks to all of you who supported me on this run! Your donations make a difference! I'll be posting more information on my personal website about the race, but in the meantime click here to see some photos from around the island!

Cheers,

Shawn

Ps, I'm still a little short on meeting my fundraising goal. If you haven't donated, please do so if you can!

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A little over a year ago I signed up to train for the Chicago Marathon. Rather than do it on my own, I opted to do it with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) program. Since then I've continued to train and run various events from 10K road races all the way up to 50K (31-mile) ultramarathons out in the woods. For me, running has had a huge, positive, impact on my life allowing me to find some much needed clarity.

[Don't feel like reading anymore, click the button on the right side to donate!!!]

This summer marks my third season with TNT (second as a mentor) and I've just a few short weeks to raise my goal of $3210 for LLS. Sometimes it's hard to imagine how money given to charity is put to use. But by being involved with TNT I've had the opportunity to learn first hand the impact LLS has. From Ryan Massey, a TNT Honoree and cancer survivor who I ran the Rome Marathon with and am now honored to call my friend, to the mother of one of my best friends! The money raised has had a direct effect on so many lives by funding research and paying for treatments! And in the end, you do make a difference!

If you supported my fundraising efforts last year, I offer my thanks and hope you can do so again. If you were not able to then, perhaps you can this time around!

Speaking of this time around... I'm training for the first annual Kauai Marathon. Now I know what you're thinking, must be nice to go to Kauai and run a marathon. But rest assured, I'm not making it easy on myself. As a warm up for the marathon, which I expect will be hot as hell, I'm planning on running/hiking the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coast the day before. This 22-mile out and back trail has been described as, "strenuous" and "dangerous when wet". Should be a blast!

Then, 6am the next day, I'll be out on the starting line to see what my legs have left in them. And of course, I'll be running in my Vibram FiveFingers (read: almost barefoot.)

So, you see, I'm making it all into a nice challenging adventure. But trust me this challenge is nothing compared to what hundreds of thousands of people face every day in their fight against the diseases LLS hopes to cure!

So please take a moment to click the button and donate what you can. $10 or $100, every penny makes a difference!

With many thanks,

Shawn