Forward to anybody you think would be interested in helping out. This is not for me to raise money to run the race. I have already paid my part to get into the race, I just would like to raise some money for a great cause that I truly belive in. Thank you for your support.

Dear Friends and Family,
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital depends primarily on public support to care for more than 4,900 young patients battling cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. That is why I have decided to become a St. Jude Hero!
I will be participating in The St. Jude Memphis Marathon on December 1, 2007 and need your support in helping to raise money for the kids at St. Jude.
I am hoping you will join me in helping save the lives of children! Please consider sponsoring me in The St. Jude Memphis Marathon by making a donation on your credit card.
St. Jude treats children at no cost to their families. Thank you for considering this appeal and for your kind involvement.
To donate, please visit my personal page and click on ‘Support Cristy’ at the top of the thermometer.

http://www.stjudeheroes.org/site/TR?px=1402423&pg=personal&fr_id=3150

copy and paste link above to go to the St Jude donation charity page for me. Thanks

Sincerely,
Cristy

Okay, there are many things that I have to sacrifice just to be a somewhat of a good runner.

1. I have to train every day so that means running every night after work. Yeah, it takes up a few hours and it also makes me tired so yes I go to bed early so I don’t really get to go out.

2. I don’t get to eat all the really good junk food. I have to stay in shape so that requires me to try to eat healthy.

3. I don’t get to drink anymore. Yeah, alcohol is a great burden on a runner. Believe it or not but if you go and run a few miles and then go drink a beer well you just put all those calories and extra calories back on that you just burned off. Hum???? But you can indulge in a drink or two maybe once or twice a week, not every single day right after you run.

4. I don’t get to sleep in on the weekends. I wake up every day at 5:30 am for work and on the weekends. I do this so I can get long runs in.

I am not saying that in order to be a runner or start running you have to give up a lot, I am just saying that you have to learn to manage your time better and be able to understand that you do have to give up a few things in order to become better or loose weight. These are just the things I have to give up everyone is different and everyone has something else that they have to give up to be able to run. Nothing against anyone else.

Okay, so I have decided that I am not going to run the Marine Corp Marathon this year because I could not find anyone else to go with me to run it. And going alone sucks. So me, my family and friends are all going to Detroit to run the Detroit Marathon in October. It is October 21st. It is a really cool marathon. You have to have a passport to be able to run this race. The reason is because you have to prove you are a US Citizen because you get to run thru a tunnel and run into Canada and back into the USA. It sounds like fun. And for those of you that want to be smart butts, no you don’t have to carry your passport while running, just have to have it when you get your packet at the expo. But I am still running the Memphis Marathon in December. Oh, and yes I already have a room for both of these races.

Someone once siad the day you are born is the day you begin dieing.

Well, I say the day you are born is the day you begin learning how to live.

Life is but a long road, sometimes we travel to fast and forget to check out the scenery.

We have great people step into our lives, show us the way down the curvy road, teach us how to live and then let us go so we can show others.

We love people and let them love us for eternal happiness.

For we live, we die, but what we do with our lives is our choice.

People pass on and when we loose someone we are taught yet another lesson in life.

Remember when someone passes on they do not want you to cry or feel sorry for them, they want you to rejoice in the simple fact that they lived and were part of your life.

This one moment in time makes me realize that I will one day have to go thru this time but I will never forget the simple fact that the people here today have done all they can to make it easier on everyone else but just being here to comfort those in need and to remember a great life that has passed on.

Remember keep running, don’t look back, but don’t forget what you had, he will always be apart of you and you are still alive today to tell his story.

Ellis Porch was a very much loved man by not just his family but his friends too. He was a true genuine person. He had the perfect life. A great wife and child and many friends. He smiled all the time, no matter what. He encouraged those of us that thought we were not good enough. He just was there for everyone. I will always remember that every race I ever ran he would always come back with his friend Jerry because they would always finish way before me and just smile at me and tell me good job and keep going. He made me feel good about myself and I know he did the same for others. I will never forget him and will always remember him as a Great Runner. He will be missed by many but one day his story will be told and I am not able to tell you his story but his closes friends and family will be able to one day.

No matter what, I will keep running, not just because of Ellis but for every great runner out there that we have lost to some kind of freak reason.

Thank you to all of you out there that prayed and were there for his family. It means a lot to everyone.

I don’t ask for much, I don’t need much, and I don’t pray for much. But today is a different day. Today is a day of morning and trying to understand why things happen the way they do. I understand death, I understand that things happen for a reason but what I don’t understand is why this could happen to such a great person.

You may not know him but this is his story:

Ellis Porch was running at Seaside in Florida Sunday morning and at about the 10th mile he went into convulsions. They revived him enough to get him airlifted back to Birmingham, Alabama that day. He is now in the hospital on life support. They are not sure what happened. He did not have a heart attack. He was not dehydrated. He did nothing wrong, he trained like he has trained for any race. He is a great runner. He has run the Boston Marathon. He has run many races. But now he is fighting for his life.

All I am asking is for any of you that understand or just want to help, to please pray for him. Medical Science has done all that they can and now it is all in God’s hands. Whether he lives or dies I just want what’s best for him and his family.

He is a father, a husband and a friend. He has the nicest wife I know, he has a sweet child and all of his friends are very caring. All we ask is for a little support and hopefully the best will happen.

Thank you for your time.

You know every day I open up my yahoo to read mail and whatever is listed on the news for the day and today I came across this incredible story. 3 guys ran across the dessert totaling 4,000 miles in 111 days. Absolutely incredible. You need to read the article and can’t wait to see the documentary. And I thought I was an addicted runner, these guys are incredible.

Check out the site:

http://www.charlieengle.com/

you will have to copy and paste into your web browser but it is a great story.

Congrats to the three men that conquered this incredible task and proved that we are not insane runners, we are just humans trying to prove that we are all capable of anything.

Okay, so this past weekend was the Mercedes Marathon, half marathon, and BE5K. I only ran the 5k this year due to past experience of running the half marathon. However, not to go into any details the marathon and half marathon is probably one of the hardest around the country or at least that is what I am told. It has so many hills but they say the down hills is the killer part of the race. However, what I wanted to talk about today was the kids marathon. We have a kids marathon every year. It is a great experience. The rules to my understanding is that they have to qualify by running 25 miles before they can run the last 1.2 miles of their marathon at the Mercedes Kids Marathon. They get a whole year to do this. They only have to run 1 mile a week or more if they want. It is only for kindergarden to 6th grade children. We let them run in groups by age/class. It is really a great experience. However, this year was probably the best one yet. First, we had so many more children run. It was so much fun. But we had two very important children run the race. First was a young boy, I believe he was in either 1st grade or 2nd. Can’t remember which, but he was in a wheel chair. He pushed his way in the cold in that wheelchair with bare hands. He had a little trouble getting up the hill and I kind of helped him out but he did great. And it was so neat watching him finish. Then there was this one boy named Charles. I only remember his name because of the great attitude that he portrayed. You see he has braces on both his legs. He really has no use at all with his legs and he has these metal crutches that his arms go down in to help him be mobile. He literally walked with these crutches all 1.2 miles. And the greatest thing about him is the fact that he was smiling the whole way. His dad was walking with him and was so proud of him. Telling him how great he was doing, asking him if he was okay, seeing if he needed any help and this boy just smiled and told his dad he was doing good and that he was okay. He did so good all the way to the end. Just watching him push himself thru the disability that he has was probably the greatest experience. Watching him made me realize that I am very greatful for the fact that I can run, greatful for the fact that I can run a marathon, and also made me realize that I will never complain ever again about the fact that it is hard to run that far when I realize that a little 5 year old boy named Charles could do it in crutches and push himself thru life with the greatest attitude. Thank you Charles for being who you are, don’t ever change.

Okay, so I have decided to do the following races this year:

1. Louisville, KY on April 28th.
2. DC in October (Marine Corp)
3. Memphis Marathn (St. Jude) in December

I might do the following:
1. ING in Atlanta, GA in March
2. Rock N’ Roll in San Diego in June

Any suggestions for any good marathons out there let me know. I am trying to do one in every state so if you know any that are not in April, October, or December Let me know. I would like to do 5 marathons this year.

So last night I took a class with my friends Lydia, Tim, Mark and Brent on how to do the East Coast Swing. It was so much fun. However, when we got there it was the last class of the month on how to do this dance and we did not know any of the previous steps already taught. When they started the class, they said okay you have already learned these steps now we are going to add this step and this step to the dance. WE just all looked at eachother like WHAT, are you kidding me? A bunch of us runners trying to dance but we tried. It took us a little while but we finally got the basic steps down. We were laughing more then dancing because we just could not get it at first. But starting next Thursday they are going to teach the Mambo. At least we will be there for the beginning of that dance. I never knew that dancing could be so much fun. I mean, I have taken ballet, tap and jazz for 15 years of my life but nothing like this. It was great. Now while we run we might be trying to dance to just remember what we were taught. So if you are ever in Birmingham and see runners trying to do the rock step while running you will now know why.

If you live in Birmingham and ever want to go to this class you should. Go to their website: www.curtnwendy.com and check out their schedule.

Have a great day.

any of you on myspace, check out my page, you might have to be set up as a friend first, but for those of you asking about pics of other runs, check there because I have no clue how to put them on here.

laters

http://www.myspace.com/140432859