As some of you know, for many years I have wanted to attempt to run a marathon. In the past, I’ve had a few setbacks with injuries which left me unable to train for one. This year, despite a rather hectic work schedule, things have fallen into place to allow me to commit to a training schedule, and I am signed up to run the 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. (https://www.chicagomarathon.com)
I began my training in June, and I am currently in my 12th week of training. As I mentioned, my work schedule over the last few months has been extremely busy. Unfortunately, these late nights and weekends spent at the office meant that I was not able to sign up for any kind of a group “training team”. Committing to being somewhere at a certain time was just not an option for me. So instead I committed to training on my own. This has proven to be extremely difficult at times.
I have never been a distance runner. I ran sprints in high school, and to me, a “long distance run” was about five miles. Now I was faced with the challenge of completing training runs night after night all on my own. I had noboby to run with me and help me keep pace, nobody to encourage me to keep going on days/nights when I just felt like giving up. It was becoming quite a mental challenge as well as a physical challenge. I decided that if I was going to continue on with this training and commit to running the marathon, then I needed some more motivation. This started my mind thinking…
I knew that there were many charities that used the marathon as a source of fundraising. I looked into the possibility of joining one of these charity teams. I hoped that this would give me the extra motivation needed to continue pushing myself at those times when it would be so very easy to quit. I decided that if I was going to join a charity team, then I wanted it to be something local. While organizations like the Red Cross are very well respected, they also get much more exposure than the many smaller local places that also need help. So I looked around and made a few phone calls, and after a bit of confusion (it’s a long story), I finally became a member of the charity fundraising running team for the St. Coletta’s of Illinois Foundation. (https://www.stcolettail.org) I will now be running the 26.2 miles on behalf of developmentally disabled children and adults.
The St. Coletta’s of Illinois Foundation is located in the southwest suburb of Tinley Park. They are a non-profit organization which provides support and funding for over 400 special needs individuals in the areas of residential care, educational programs, medical care, religious and pastoral care, vocational services and specialized facilities. Just taking a few minutes to look around their website showed me that they were an admirable foundation which was providing some very valuable services to people who needed it. I took some time and called them and spoke with their representative who was heading up their marathon running team. She answered all of my questions, and by the end of the call, I had signed up to join their team.
So the purpose of this letter is two-fold:
I wanted to let all of you know that I have been working towards this goal of completing the marathon. If you haven’t seen or heard from me much lately, then that is probably why. The training has been taking up almost all of my free time.
If you are able, I would like to ask you for your support in the form of sponsorship of my run. The St. Coletta’s Team goal is to raise $750 per runner, every dollar of which goes directly to the care of the children and adults at St. Coletta’s. I have taken care of the first $100 by sponsoring myself. This leaves $650 that I am attempting to raise for this very worthy charity by getting out there and pushing myself as hard as I can physically. I ask you to please consider sponsoring me in this marathon to the benefit of everyone who will be helped by these funds. Every little bit will help me reach that goal of $650. Sponsorship of just $1 per mile will add up quickly. If you want to contribute more than that, that would be great. If you can’t spare that much, then I will be thankful for whatever you can afford to give.
For those of you who would like to donate/sponsor, please either talk to me in person to get a pledge form, or just follow these steps:
Download the pledge form in MS Word format from: https://www.stcolettail.org/pledge-form.doc
Print out the pledge form
Fill out the pledge form
Mail this form to:
St. Colettas of Illinois Foundation
18350 Crossing Drive, Suite 103
Tinley Park, IL 60477
My training has been going pretty well (with the exception of getting a very nasty chest cold a couple weeks ago from which I am still trying to recover), but it has been extremely difficult at times doing it all on my own. My training this last weekend included a 16 mile run, and it started to get very hard around that 15 mile mark. I know that it is only going to get harder and harder as the distance increases. Running this long by yourself really gives your mind a lot of time to wander and think about many things. On race day, I know that I will be thinking about everyone and searching my mind for support and inspiration. Knowing that I’m not alone in this will definately help to give me extra strength and motivation.
I know that I have a wonderful group of friends here in Chicago and abroad, and let me thank all of you in advance for your many forms of support in this undertaking. Hopefully with your help, I can reach both my fundraising goal and my personal goal of completing the 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.
If you have any more questions, feel free to write or call me.
Thank you all very much.
– Kevin