Richmond or Bust!

Hi Everybody!

So, you may or may not know, but my 2-year-old niece Callie has a condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), which I will not go into detail about, but there is more info about the condition and about Callie on my sister's blog at joshaimeecallie.blogspot.com.  Long story short, Callie is unable to walk, and her chances of being able to walk in the future are slim to none.  It's a pretty deep subject matter to get into, and I only know a little bit about SMA, so as I said, I'm not going to go into detail about it.  But Callie is a precious angel in my life, and always brings such joy and happiness to me whenever I get to see her.  Anyone who meets her will tell you the same.  She is such a darling.

As part of fundraising efforts, my sister's cousin Jessica has been teaming up with Gwendolyn Strong Foundation to raise funds for research for SMA, and as part of this, she is running the 2012 Richmond Marathon in November.  My mother is training for this marathon as well, and so am I!  I am so excited to be training for my second marathon!  It's going to be a mountain climb, that's for sure, but I know that with motivation and dedication, I'll be ready for it in three months.

This will be my second marathon.  I'm a runner, but oftentimes it's hard to feel the motivation to run every day.  Since I returned from my mission, I thought I would be able to get right back on a running routine.  You know, wake up and run every day.  But at that point, I didn't have a purpose... whereas before, I did have a purpose.  I'd be part of a team, or at least I'd have goals that I'd be committed to.  But right after my mission, I didn't see much point.  I'd think to myself, "What's my motive?"  So I'd run, but maybe once every couple of days.  Those of you who are runners know what good that does a guy.  Not much.  This time is different.  What's my motive?  Callie's my motive.  Every day when I think to myself, "Ughhh, I don't wanna run today," or "Ughhh, I don't have time for my run," I think of Callie.  I think how in a few years, she would do anything to be able to run, let alone walk.  So I'm running the miles that she won't be able to.  And it's going to be the most meaningful marathon I'll ever run.

If you would like to donate to SMA research and help out Callie and other kids like her, please click here.