Well, this ambitious athletic endeavor is exactly what James Murray is aiming to do on November 26th, 2011. James has been planning the crazy idea for the last 14 months, and has recruited ultra runner extraordinaire Lisa Smith Batchen to be his coach and running mentor. If you’ve never heard of Lisa (shame on you), she’s a two-time winner of the Badwater Ultramarathon and the only American to win the Marathon des Sables!

James is also hoping to inspire both the people of Grand Cayman and beyond to participate in their own “Crazy Idea”, either for personal satisfaction or in order to raise money for a worthy cause.

Check out the brand new video from James in which he talks about his dreams, ambitions and expectations for the “crazy idea”. Cool stuff!

Full details of the run, including health & fitness tips, CI Diabetes Association information, a list of current sponsors and info on how YOU can donate can be found on the “A Crazy Idea” web site.

Please consider helping spread the word, and to keep up to date with all the latest news be sure to “Like” the “A Crazy Idea” Facebook page. You can also follow James and his training via the regularly updated Twitter page.

Good luck, James. Happy miles!!

I manage a charity marathon team (from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) that will participate in this April’s Boston Marathon. There are still a few spots left on our 50-member team. It’s for a great cause and is a great opportunity to run the Boston Marathon!

Team members will raise funds to bring new hope and a healthier future to people everywhere who face loss of sight, hearing, voice, balance, taste and smell, as well as head and neck cancer. Team members must commit to raising a minimum of $5,000 for research and patient care at Mass. Eye and Ear. Fundraising and training support will be offered. The team coach, Fred Treseler, is recognized as one of the best in the country.

Interested runners can contact Kristina Sym at kristina_sym@meei.harvard.edu or (617) 573-6364. More information can also be found at www.MassEyeAndEar.org/TeamEyeAndEar.

The folks over at dailymile have put together the first ever Feed the Turkey Virtual Turkey Trot – a great way to burn a few pre-feast calories, but more importantly raise funds for St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. According to their web site,

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital strives to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay.

- a worthy cause I’m sure you’ll agree.

When you enter the Feed the Turkey Virtual Turkey Trot you will be asked to donate $1, $5, or $10 to St. Jude – it’s a small amount, but with large numbers, we can really make a difference!

There’s still plenty of time to enter. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Sign up over at the Feed the Turkey web site.
2. Tweet or post to Facebook that you’re participating in the “Feed The Turkey – Virtual 5k Turkey Trot”. To make things easy, all you have to do is click on the Facebook and/or Twitter button. [Required]
3. Choose one of three donation amounts – $1, $5 or $10. Remember, 100% of ALL donations will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
4. If you’re already a dailymile member, click the Join the Challenge button to sign up. You can also join the challenge without a dailymile account, in which case you’ll be assigned a bib number you’ll need when you enter your finishing time.
5. Run, stroll or walk a 5K on Thanksgiving day. It can be an official race, solo effort, or just a fun run with friends.
6. Head back to the Feed the Turkey web site to post your results, print your “I earned my turkey!” finisher’s certificate, and be entered for cool prize giveaways!

If you’re unable to participate on Thursday, you can still make a difference by spreading the “Feed the Turkey” word. Let’s make this a huge event to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital!

PS If you’re not sure what the dailymile deal is, feel free to read my blog review from earlier this year where I explain some of the benefits of using dailymile to track your training and interact with like-minded athletes/fitness folk.

If you like what you see, why not register for your own dailymile account? Sign up is quick, easy, and 100% FREE!

The challenge started on January 1st with Blaine running at least 1 mile, followed by at least 2 miles on the 2nd, all the way up through 31 miles on the 31st! Last week Blaine logged over 148 miles which leaves about about 196 miles to cover in the final seven days of the challenge. What makes the task even more difficult is the adverse weather conditions at this time of year in Portland, Maine where Blaine lives. I honestly don’t envy the job in hand, but if anyone can pull it off, I’m sure Blaine can.

You can read more about the 1 More Mile for Sunshine Challenge here, and if you feel like making a donation, I’m certain Blaine will be VERY appreciative.

Good luck Blaine!

Camp Sunshine supports children with life threatening illnesses and their families. The camp has the distinction of being the only program in the nation whose mission is to address the impact of a life threatening illness on every member of the immediate family—the ill child, the parents, and the siblings. Since its inception, Camp Sunshine has provided a haven for over 30,000 individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds.

The past few days, however, Tommy has been out and about, testing his injured calf and assessing whether he can continue with the run. Today I ran 8 miles of the Norfolk, VA to Suffolk, VA leg with Tommy and it looks like he will resume his charity run on Tuesday; kicking off in Suffolk, VA and hopefully ending up in Miami some time next month.

The 8 miles was enjoyable at a nice easy pace, and probably about one quarter of the actual distance Tommy covered today. I must admit, after yesterday’s 20 miler, an easy 8 was just about enough for me.

Good luck Tommy in your trip down south. It’s an awful long way, but if anyone can do it, you can…

Four Million Steps web site

Where’s Tommy?

Make a donation

Here’s an excerpt from the email:

The real update is with my calf. It felt okay at first, but after about 4 or 5 miles I was reduced to a walk. 7 miles of walking (after changing the flat on the baby stroller) my leg was killing me. I was walking slower than a normal stroll and it was killing me. I had to be picked up and taken back home. I went to a doctor who does active release therapy and he wouldn’t touch me. Said something else was very wrong. Leg was too swollen and he thought I might have some kind of infection or serious tissue damage. At the second doctor, I got blood work, x-rays and a few other tests only to rule out a few things. Both doctors aren’t willing to caulk this up at tendinitis, but aren’t ruling it out either.

I called Tommy right away and as you can imagine he’s “miserable and very disappointed“.

He “doesn’t understand how this came on so fast and has been so debilitating” but has not ruled out the chances of continuing his epic journey from Bangor to Miami. After a couple of days at home, he’s going to assess the situation and make a decision as to the future of Four Million Steps. I’m really disappointed for him too; he spent hours and hours and months and months planning the charity run and knowing Tommy, the thought of not finishing probably never crossed his mind.

I’ll let you know what Tommy decides…..

Donate to the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

Tommy started his epic endurance run in Bangor, Maine on August 27th and in 30 days has racked up a massive 923 miles! Amazing thing is, he’s not even half way done. After a well-deserved rest day next Monday, Tommy sets off on the southern half of his run with the final destination being Miami, Florida.

Check out this recent blog post for a taste of what I have in store on Sunday. Should be a fun time, and I can’t wait to help out with the baby jogger….

Tommy, husband to Elaine, father to Shelby and parent of a child lost to cancer (Randi) has a passion for running and a passion for helping others in need. Please consider making a donation to this very worthwhile cause which will ultimately help many, many people who are battling through a very
difficult and emotional time in their life.

Day 12 in the books. Felt great today and finished an hour and a half early. Got a nice surprise visit from Charlie Goodwin. Pizza and beer for dinner!

Tommy

Four Million Steps web site

Where’s Tommy?

Make a donation

Day 11 done. Once again I got lost. This time it added about 6 more miles. I’m getting a gps damn it. Legs feel great and I hit the fourth House tomorrow.

Tommy

Four Million Steps web site

Where’s Tommy?

Make a donation

Day 7 done. Legs felt better today. Entered 3rd state – Mass. A bit on the hot side, but nothing too bad. Found license plate #3.

Tommy

Four Million Steps web site

Where’s Tommy?

Make a donation