I have a special young man. Thank God he is healthy. My wife and I are nurses and we did rotations at St Jude's when we were in school. We have seen sick kids, and there is no one on this planet more brave than a terminally ill child. For some reason my young boy has taken an interest in St Jude's as his own choice for helping other people. He did a can collection last year, and we sent his money to Doug so that it could be included in our Tradgang totals.
This year his mom put up with me training and completing a half marathon. When I discussed training for another one we thought of St Jude and my old stomping ground of Memphis (I grew up near there and played ball/went to college near there.) When my son heard the words "St Jude" his ears perked up. He said "Dad, we could raise money for the kids". I had to leave the room for a little bit to compose myself. My kid, always thinking about others...
So instead of ME training for a marathon, he'd train for one. The St Jude Marathon has a family race. The kids do their runs one or two days a week and log their miles. When they have 12.1 of the 13.1 banked, they do the last mile to get their medal the day of the race. Well his sister couldn't let him out-do her and they both have set out to get their miles in. Both have been working hard, and we have an added bonus to help us raise funds here locally.
Talondale (Chuck) did the St Jude's Tshirt for Tradgang this year again. It is a great thing he organized and the shirts are top shelf. After contacting him about some shirts for a project he sold me 20 or so "seconds" for a great deal. After emailing Terry about my idea and getting the green light, we had our way to raise a little money for the kids of St Jude.
Taking the "seconds" and adding a little stuff to the back, then going around to different stores and a few personal friends, all of the shirts are spoken for. We have a couple of runners lined up for their marathon, and a check for $500 to give to the hospital.
So, we will have a couple of future gangers running for you guys, along with my lovely wife and myself. Tradgang is full of special folks, and it will be an honor to wear the Tradgang St Jude shirts that day. Thank you Talondale, thank you Terry, and thank you Tradgang for all you guys do for those kids.
Topic: St Judes Marathon...a kids wish (Read 684 times)
