There are certain things that everyone boy that grows up in Charleston does throughout their formative years. From pluff mud fights to flounder giggin’ at nights, one of those is catching some waves on Folly. I never knew if Charlie would be able to experience that. His body just limits him so much. Even when we run, I strap him in good and he’s super secure so putting him on a board riding a wave was a bit scary. But hey, worst case scenario he gets a little wetter than planned. Now, we did also have a 5k race this day that benefited the Carolina Children’s Charity and we had to be there as our Racers for Pacers group and number of people we know were going to be there. Plus, the Charity has actually helped provide some seating and equipment or Charlie at times so we wanted to show our support. They are awesome! We ran that in 25:49 and were excited because our half marathon training has been paying off. It was great to see it under 26 minutes even with a few hills. After chatting for a few minutes, we made a bee-line for the beach.
Wheels to Surf is a group that coordinates events like this and they hooked up with Ocean Cure to bring in all the volunteers to give people with all disabilities and all ages and chance to surf. Witnessing people sitting, laying, and some even being helped to their feet while riding the waves was something to see. So many volunteers and so many smiles. Best of all, there wasn’t any sadness or people giving those “ohhhh, I feel so bad for you” faces. Honestly, I could punch people that look at Charlie that way. He doesn’t need your pity. But anyway… the Wheels to Surf event was an amazing experience. We’re already figuring out how to travel to the next closest one and maybe even getting a board for Charlie.
Here is the video we shot with the GoPro of his time in the water. Please enjoy and share if you like!
Next week, its the IOP Connector 10K and in a few weeks the 7 Bridges Marathon/4 Bridges Half in Chattanooga!!!
Wow! I didn’t realize how long it has been since I last posted on the blog. The last bit of January and first of February was a blur, but it was great for things to be a little slow (for a family life and our running life). We recharged ourselves, set our schedules, and just really spent some downtime with each other. Then, we decided that we had to get moving again. We needed controlled chaos in our lives because why not!
There were two races in March that we had on our schedule to run. The first was the Catch the Leprechaun 5k in Mt. Pleasant which was with our group, Racers for Pacers. The second was on our 50 Halfs 50 States schedule for the half marathon at the Wrightsville Beach Marathon Madness. So, we trained…a little. Man, I remember when I was really training for the NYC Marathon through the summer of 2013. I logged so many miles. Spent so much time on the pavement. I had a plan. Well, training with a special needs child in a wheelchair jogger while still trying to give Mommy a break from the 10 month old can be challenging. With school, illnesses, therapy appointments, work, and on and on and on; honestly, if we get a 45-60 minute run once during the week in and then a longer run on the weekend we feel quite accomplished. At least daylights savings time came and gave us a little more sunshine in the afternoons! But to makes things ever more exciting. In late February/early March we’ve started the process of buying land, selling our house, and finding a rental so that we can build a home that is perfect for our family. Its crazy and hectic but when a door is opening you have to step through. Its cool though because I feed off of this stuff. If I don’t have my hands full then I’m not doing enough at the moment. Now, my wife. Not so much. But, she is the rock of our family. The chief organizer and whip cracker. So far so good. We’re soon to close on the land and our house had a contract on it in 6 days for 99% of asking price. We’ve even found a potential rental that has a ramp leading into the house. I mean, how many houses have ramps. So many things falling into place that we just feel so grateful and between the little arguments of what stays and what goes in the packing game, we almost have to hold back our emotions because of good God had been to us.
OK. Ok. Back to running…
For the Leprechaun, a race that actually benefits a local charter school for children with special needs, it is always at a perfect time in Charleston. The Thursday before St. Patty’s day when the weather here is just starting to get nice and a good rust shaker for the upcoming bigger races. The 5k draws a good crowd mix of serious runners and just those wanting to get out and walk and then pound green beer afterwards. Its fun. Its not too serious and I was looking forward to it because even though I’ve run this race before this would be my first time with Charlie. A good number of the kids from our Racers for Pacers group was there as well so watch the video below to check it out!
It was a little tough navigating the crowd but we still had a decent time so I felt good where we were at heading to Wrightsville Beach in two weeks. About the time of the Leprechaun, I had the Wrightsville trip all planned out and we were ready to go. Mommy and little sister were both coming this time and so were Uncle Drew and Aunt Ashlyn. We had a fun time planned out from the drive up, which was only about 3 1/2 hours, a ferry ride over to the islands, and dinner at a few good spots before and after the race.
Its only the 6th year of this race but holy crap have they got this thing down pat! So organized and professional. So much local support from the local government to the people living in the area. And its not just a Half. They have a 1 mile, 5k, and 10k on Saturday evening. Then on Sunday morning they have the Half, Full, and Relay Marathons. It really is madness. Unfortunately, it didn’t dawn on me that it all corresponds to the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament going on. I completely ignored the fact that every college in the big dance had a flag flying and that they had a section in the tent set up with 5 or 6 huge flat screens showing games on Saturday afternoon! I’m quite upset that I didn’t get a picture of me and Charlie next to the Wofford Terrier flag hanging somewhere in there, but I was oblivious because I get in race mode and get tunnel vision real quick.
I get nervous before athletic competitions. Even when I know I’m prepared. Always have. Always will. But just like in my playing days as soon as that first pitch was thrown, it all just flows and you go. It was like that the whole trip up. Dinner the night before, hardly sleeping, wake up at 5am, checking the jogger and our gear, getting dropped off at the start line, stretching, inching towards the start in a mass of people. Then, I hear a ping or a buzz and natural instinct takes over. I can even see and feel Charlie squirm and smile as we begin to move and peace flows over me. Just run. Don’t stop. Be your son’s hero. Be his best friend. Be an example. Do something great. Make memories for 10 lifetimes. Give more than you’ve ever received.
The weather was perfect. Upper 40’s to low 50’s and cloudy. Despite starting at around 6:40 am, running east as the sun comes up over the Atlantic makes that early alarm worth it and the race was really all together great. We completely recommend it to anyone wanting to run any race distance at all!
We finished in 2:03 and as you’ll see at the end of the video below, we even got to witness a proposal directly behind us!
If I could give one single piece of advice to any level of runner it would be to set a schedule. Whether is be training or races you want to run in the future, you need some sort of plan and goals. Its very tempting to let things fall by the wayside when you haven’t publicly announced your plans. This goes for anything really though. Leaders in all sorts of fields announce their organizations goals and set timelines. It how ideas get turned into actual things. When Charlie was real young, we tried to do absolutely every type of therapy we could with him even though our therapists told us we needed to determine the things that he could excel in and actual be successful in training his brain and body. We should have listened because we really were only fumbling around in the dark looking for the light switch. We needed to pick and focus all of his limited energy into fewer things. We do that now with his Tobii communication device and independent mobility with his power wheelchair. Those are the most important although we are intermittently working on the little things like fine and gross motor when we can.
This applies to our running schedule as well. If we have the events circled on the calendar, we know what we need to do to be ready and be organized. We also can let others know this is for real. Its not like we just randomly pick some races here or there that work into a vacation schedule or not. We are committed to this. We are going to complete our goal. And my ultimate timeline goals is to run all 50 before Charlie goes to high school. That gives us about 8 1/2 years, which works out just right to running 6 half marathons a year.
We got some great suggestions from all sorts of different places. Facebook, twitter, the forums on Runners World website, and even Reddit. We are really looking forward to the future but 2015 looks pretty exciting as well! Cant wait for Rockport, MA as the Red Sox are playing in town that weekend too, and Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga will be absolutely gorgeous in mid-October.
So please follow us. Please share this blog, share our facebook page, and check out our website because the more support we have the more likely we will meet all of our goals!
So I had this post just about written out and the part where I rehashed the actual race and blah blah blah was starting to sound kind of bad. Like I was kind of bashing the Key West Half Marathon. For knit picky things here and there mostly. Then, I went to bed last night and woke up this morning with this thought. Maybe I’ve been spoiled with some of the amazing races that take place in Charleston for all different distances because not only are the directors and volunteers awesome but the community and the backing from the city is outstanding. So that got me thinking about Key West in a different light and I will discuss that below when we get to the race details.
But First,
It doesn’t really get too cold in Charleston, and if it does it’s only for a short period of time. But I guess it was in anticipation of this trip to the Keys that it seemed really really frigid right before we left. We were clamoring for a little warmth for our bones, and we got it. Charleston County schools had two teacher work days to accompany the MLK holiday the following Monday so we figured we take our time and drive down the Florida coast and see what we can see. Yes, it was a long trip but if you think trips are about destinations then you will always be disappointed. Its about the time spent with the people you journeyed with that makes it worth the while. So Thursday afternoon, the three of us packed up and piled in. We wished we could have taken baby sister Emma but she was just too young for a long trip and I think it was good for Charlie to get some alone time with his parents. After a quick stop outside of Savannah for dinner, we spent the night in Palm Coast, FL. It was a good first stretch of the trip mostly at night and now we were only about 4-5 hours from Miami and it was only Friday. Charlie actually got some quality time working on and learning his Tobbii device. That is an ACC device (Augmented Communication) that looks like a tablet but thicker. It a regular computer with specialized programs running on it that pick up his eye movements and either speak words aloud or complete actions on the computer. Right now we’re really working on building vocabulary but for some reason this 5 year old boy only wants to play the game where you throw pies in people’s faces. Go figure. Still two more days ’til the race!
Friday. We pull into Stuart, FL around noon. We can feel the sun warm our backs despite the windy day. This city in on a harbor that is where the Intracoastal Waterway turns from the Atlantic side and follows rivers and canals into Lake Okeechobee and on through the middle of Florida and to the Gulf Coast where it then works its way all the way around to the Mississippi River. You can actually take a boat in a complete loop of the eastern half of the US!!! But anyway back to our trip.
We splurged at lunch. It was a little expensive but Peruvian sea bass and lobster truffle mac n cheese was worth it. The Boathouse if definitely a spot to hit if ever in Stuart again. After lunch, back on the road until we stopped in Miami Beach. You can actually get some really good deals on the beach during this time of year and we had never been to South Beach before so we totally did the tourist thing. Ocean Drive and the Art Deco buildings are amazing! Dinner that night called for some good old southern comfort food at Yardbird. Chicken Watermelon n’ Waffles definitely hit the spot and it was so typically cool South Beach we had to make it uncool by taking pictures outside the restaurant afterwards.
I got a short run to keep the legs loose Saturday morning along the boardwalk that runs the entire length of Miami Beach. Its nestled in-between the endless hotels and the beach and has public access ramps at each street as is goes along. At 7:30 in the morning the sun was bright and there were so many people out exercising. I didn’t know that rollerblading was still in but apparently so down there.
We didn’t waste much time with breakfast or looking in awe at the row of 8,9,10 cruise ships in port as we drove through the city looking for Highway 1. We just wanted to get to the Keys! Getting from Miami to Key Largo is nothing but once you get past the first city on the Keys is pretty much two lanes and your at the mercy of traffic. At least the scenery was breathtaking.
Finally though, we made it to Key West and immediately we said, “Hey, this seems a lot like Charleston”. The Old Town is very colonial. Not what you think usually about South Florida or beach destinations. Just restaurants and bars as far as the eye could see. The boardwalk on the Seaport (city marina) was awesome and so full of life. Just so much to do and see. Our plan was to hit multiple places for a snack here and an appetizer there before we finished off dinner with authentic Cuban food. I mean, we were 90 miles away, it had to be good. Key West Key Lime Pie Shop, Hogs Breath Saloon, Pepe’s were all amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed being tourists for a day. And the best part, according to my wife, Fran, was the hotel which was walking distance from all of this. The Pier House was so nice and we got in for one night only because our original (just plain old chain hotel) overbooked and “walked” us the Pier House at no extra charge. Any place where Jimmy Buffett and Bob Marley got there starts in the hotel bar (The Chart Room) has to be pretty good. If Key West wasn’t so cool we probably would have just staying at the hotel the entire time!
So here is where I go into the Race experience. I’m leaving what I originally wrote but at then end I will explain why the problems are not the Race and how great a job the people running this thing actually do!
But we had to see the sights and most importantly we had to fine the race expo and get our bib and packet.The “expo” left something to be had though as it was a group of tents erected in a parking lot outside of the seaport boardwalk. We thought this was a nationwide big time event. It just didn’t seem so at this point. But, I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt because this was Key West. Theres an attitude and a way of life here. Its slower. Its chiller.
So we went to bed the night before. I got a little hot tub action right outside the back patio of our hotel room and Fran and Charlie got some good Z’s in. Our room was so nice and big and the bathroom was bigger than ours at home, I had the racing chair ready to go the night before. I guess I was more ready to go than the race.
Since we were only less than a half a mile away from the start, we figured 45 minutes before the 7 am start would be good to get over and warm up. Even though the traffic was free flowing even at 6:30 in the morning, we got right over and ready to start with no problem. It was so easy for us we wondered why the start of the race was delayed or why there was no loud speaker giving us any idea of what was going on. We just kind of all started moving like cattle at some point. Who knew if a race actually was being held! All of these flags should have added up in my head to the fact that this race wasn’t going to be one of those smooth sailing ones but I ignored the facts because I wanted have so much fun doing this and Charlie was already laughing and giggling at the sight of all the people and the anticipation in the air.
The first two minutes was as exciting as any race I’ve run in. Well, maybe the NYC Marathon topped it. But still, the crowd support which was made up of mostly those running the 5K was great! Then not so much after that. While the volunteers were great on every corner and every aid station, we were so crammed in the street because the police didn’t get parked cars removed from, well, everywhere. Then, the majority of the race we had to move off and on the street here and there because there was actually traffic still flowing in some areas. You’d think they could shut down some roads between 7-9 in the morning at least. The thing that made it all better was the long out and back right along the beach and the ocean seawall that comprised most of the distance. If you see the pic from our previous post you’ll know what I mean. Or just watch the video below and you’ll get it real quick.
Then just a few small things along the way. They didn’t have any bananas or oranges as far as we saw, they ran out of gatorade at some stations early on, and I passed by one station that didn’t even have water. Again, the volunteers were great as I saw one lady actually lugging some gallon jugs of water from a car to the aid station! But the police along the way and some members of the community really just wanted it to be over and done. They had other things to do obviously. This was made apparent by the one woman who wanted to drive through a group of runners because she was going to be late to work (and the cop who as trying to help her get through), and a couple we briefly heard complaining to volunteers of the annoyance this was creating for them.
By this point the temperature was mid 70’s and no breeze. It was getting tough for me at this point. I was really slowing down by mile 10 but I had no idea how far we really had to go. It seemed like every person we passed, volunteer or bystander, was shouting out, “only 2 and a half to go!” or “3 more!” or “a little less than a mile”. This was all very confusing. I wished they only showered us with encouragement instead of displaying their lack of spatial gps knowledge. We finally get back near the seaport area and we’re winding around cones and yellow caution tape almost like they mis-measured and had to throw in a few dozen more yards to get the distance right. The audible complaints from runners were flying at this point. Then comes the finish. Right smack through a construction site. I’m actually surprised someone didn’t trip and fall. It could have been bad to tell the truth. But, turning that last corner and around the backhoe, the crowd noise is heavy and invigorating. A lane directly to the finish line opens up and we actually spotted Fran! She was yelling for us and had her phone getting a great finish video. Just what we needed to help us across!
Then, pandemonium. Free for all, the finish line merges with the post-race party in the open parking lot. Ambulances and beer trucks fill the space and sounds of agony and ecstasy can be heard from all around. Steps past the finish, I’m pushing Charlie across because I just wanted to get out of there but I’m holding a shirtless guy up as his legs begin to buckle and the medical staff had a hard time fighting through the crowd. Somehow, we find Fran. We got over to the side and I pulled out a protein bar to scarf down as I chugged a water and we posed for a picture. Then, we just beelined for the hotel. I don’t know what it was. I just needed to get out of there. We didn’t even get our medal (but maybe they’ll mail it to me). I was beat. It was a tough race. Thank goodness Charlie was still in good spirits. He feeds off crowds and activity so despite the myriad of sensory issues that could have set him off, he was still cool as a cucumber.
So, here is where my new thoughts came in this morning. The race was actually one of the finest put on that I’ve participated in. The organization, the professionalism, and just plain attempt to give everyone the most fun experience possible was evident even in the face of a local community that didn’t seem to enthralled in the whole event. Maybe if the city and the police helped out more to really set this event aside as a big deal it really could be. Shut down traffic for a few hours with advance notice. Get those parked cars moved. Don’t let running taxi’s pull right next to runners fighting through mile 11. Allow the organizers to stretch out the course so its not so much of a zig-zag at the very end. It just seemed that for those not a part of the race, it was an afterthought. Just something else going on here this weekend on Key West, ho hum. And I’m sure the event organizers end up beating there heads agains the wall each year the plan this very special and unique race.
Now I know I’m proud the say this was our second half marathon on our quest for all 50 states. This will be a memory that lasts a lifetime for our family. Hats off to all those involved and one day in the future we’ll definitely be back!
Wrapping this up, the only bad part of the entire trip and the race was having to hear two people make really ignorant comments during the race. The first that we shouldn’t be allowed on the course, as we passed by this person. The second, yelling out a loud “Jesus Christ, G-damn” as we had to hop the curb, dodge a telephone pole, and get back on the road so that we didn’t get close to anyone but we kept running at a decent pace. No matter that both of these people were walking and zig zagging left and right making it very difficult for anyone to pass. We started near the back of the pack at the start as many races request and have much experience with the running chair that we really have no problem maneuvering through large crowds without even getting close to anyone much less causing an accident. We know there are always these people and while 99% of people love seeing us out there and are full of encouragement, it deeply saddens me when people make comments like those above. I want to say something so badly. I want to ask them if they really like denying individuals with special needs the same opportunities as others. If my son could run, he would. If he could talk, he would. So we just keep our heads down and keep moving forward because we know our actions over the course of time will speak much greater volumes than any snide comment or comeback I could have for some self-absorbed person over the course of a two hour race.
I just wanted to write a little something since I’m back home now, wife and kids have settled back in to routine and I’ve got a day of work under my belt. This won’t be much but I will write a much more extensive post about our trip and the whole Key West Half Marathon experience complete with video from the GoPro and all!
If you ever get a chance to run this race, do it. Just because it’s Key West. Just because it’s an awesome place to visit. And take a few days to stay AFTER the race do you can really enjoy everything. The race was good. It had it scenic parts and for someone who had never been there before it was really cool, but it was a little disorganized, a little crowded, and a simple out and back.
Still, awesome race destination and experience. Charlie really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it despite it being tough with warmer temps, and I know my wife enjoyed herself down here as well!
One of my favorite things about the GoPro camera is the time lapse mode because I can go back through and see the individual photos that it took and not just continual video. Sometimes there are things that you watch on video or see live that you just don’t appreciate until you see at still photo of it. Even the unedited shot above at Hampton Park with its blurriness is still a decent shot without even trying. Also, ignore that Charlie is missing his right shoe. When he gets excited, he kicks his legs up and out and that right shoe always flips off as it catches the edge of the chair.
But enough about photography and missing shoes. This is a blog to update how we’re doing on our quest for 50 half marathons in 50 states! So, well, as far as planning our next races and spreading the word a bit here and there things are great. As far as actually training, running, physically preparing for the race in Key West, well lets just not talk about that. I suppose I’ll have about as many miles logged for this one as I did getting ready for Kiawah and we knocked that one out with a 2 hour time and felt good doing it. But here is the problem in Key West. Its going to be 70 degrees at 7 am when the race starts. Its never going to get above 75 that day either and in everyone’s mind that seems like amazing weather. Thats everyone’s mind except for the runner. Cool is good. Not warm, and definitely not hot! It was 35 at the start of Kiawah and probably 45 at the finish so that was a little cold to start but the upper 40s and 50s are ideal for distance running. So with the “wonderful” weather down there this weekend, I’m already hydrating. And forget the bananas and oranges they hand out at about mile 10, I’m stuffing some in Charlie’s book bag for much sooner mid-race treat. Either way, the race will be finished and all will have a good time, especially Charlie. He is going to love this and really enjoy the warmer weather.
And that is why our training has been lacking. Since new year’s day, our household has pretty much been sick in some form or fashion. All four of us touched by something at some point. Even Gretta the Labradoodle didn’t seem quite well one day. We even had to take Charlie to MUSC emergency one evening to make sure he didn’t have the flu. So that was a fun night. Then Mama laid the law down and no children were allowed in the cold and Daddy wasn’t allow to get any quick runs in because two sick kids require two parents to play man to man defense. But, I think after this past weekend, we turned the corner. Hopefully a few short runs in here at home with Charlie in the chair and then we’re headed south come Thursday evening!
We’re driving mostly because the flight times to Miami or Key West just really didn’t work out well with what we wanted to do. Also, We’ve never driven the Oversees Highway through the Keys. That should be amazing. Splitting up the drive with a couple hours Thursday, some more on Friday, then by Saturday morning we’re driving into Key West and just chilling until race time the next morning. We’ll take our time and enjoy ourselves with some good seafood in Stuart, FL. We’ll check out the killer whale and dolphin shows at the Miami Seaquarium and really just enjoy time as a family. I really look forward to my wife and I having time along with Charlie. I think he’s felt a little neglected since Emma was born 8 months ago. Its understandable so this a great time for us to just have some fun!
Oh, update on next race after Key West. We’re keeping it in the Carolinas and heading to Wrightsville Beach in March. A less than 4 hour drive to knock our #3 of 50 states!
Be Sure To Click the Small Setting Gear to Watch Video in 1080p. So much BETTER!
The video at the top came from Santa. I’m usually guilty of always wanting gadgets, but I tried to be wise with GoPros as I never really had a need for one, but what a great way to document our running adventures over the next few years now! And I’m sure we’ll find some other cool things to capture along the way from going fishing to swimming in the pool! I’ll just keep playing with the camera to get it in the right spot with the best angles and quality.
Now, as far as races are concerned. Key West is officially happening! January 18, 2015 at 7 am we’ll be taking off! We’ve have some donations come in the last two weeks, but none of that is going towards our travel budget as we have pledged to match all donations leading up to Key West and give to Racers for Pacers and Let’s Cure CP. That’s cool though because I figured the first couple of races would come completely out of pocket before everyone really believes that we’re doing this and gets behind us strong. The best part of this race travel wise is that it is on MLK Jr. weekend which means Charlie has Friday and Monday off from school. Now mom won’t be so upset with missing days in the classroom. Haha!
We got about three weeks to go before we leave and besides the usual training, I’ll probably be spending any extra time I have planning out the trip. I think we’ll leave Friday morning, stop and stay somewhere east coast of Florida then come into Key West Saturday and chill until the race on Sunday morning. Since we were late on getting in on this race, we booked a little hotel about 20 miles up the Keys but thats no biggie as I was planning on parking near the Start/Finish area anyway to get Charlie ready to roll.
Anyway, I’m kind of rambling because thats how my head is right now thinking about this trip. All I know we’re going to have a ton of fun!
When first thinking of a second group to donate funds raised by running our 50 half marathons in 50 states, I thought that giving to a local group in each city we run a race in would be cool. You know, spread the love around. I did have apprehensions though as it would probably soon add up to be tough keeping so many different places and people organized. This isn’t my day job. Obviously Racers for Pacers was our go to non-profit to give to as they got us started running together, but I wasn’t sure of the other(s).
Then, my wife sent me an email about a group in Atlanta that raises money for cerebral palsy research and just donated $100,000 dollars to a hospital in Houston starting trials on hip bone marrow stem cell therapy. We have checked into things like this already and actually have Charlie’s little sisters cord blood banked at Duke University where this group has actually donated as well! Hopefully the trials there will show hope for sibling stem cells to help with CP. Too bad we didn’t bank Charlie’s cord blood as research has already shown health improvement with that but we never knew we would maybe need it some day.
So, this group’s name is Let’s Cure CP and can be found on the web at www.curecp.com
I just wanted to put this out there as they are an awesome non-profit doing great work. Charlie and I will be proud to donate a portion of our funds to Let’s Cure CP as we run 50 halfs in 50 states!
I’m seriously serious about this. After Charlie’s performance at Kiawah last Saturday, it confirmed what I’m been cooking up over the last month in my head. We need to do this. We need to slowly but surely visit each state in America and run a half marathon there. Along the way, we’ll raise some money for the organization that got us started running together (Racers for Pacers) and hopefully some other national organizations that help benefit those with cerebral palsy.
So, I put together a website that serves a base for our future journeys and can allow people to help support us. Because that is the major thing. Support. Particularly financial support for the travel and registration in races. We can make a trip to Georgia or North Carolina for the weekend with somewhat of ease, but if we want to go to Key West next month or way down the road for some West Coast races we’re going to need a little help with that. But the point of Charlie and I running together is not simply to have people foot our travel bills. Its to give back to organization who have helped us so far and to raise awareness for those with cerebral palsy. Donation will only help pay a portion of the travel costs. Here’s how I’m thinking the breakdown of donations will go to start:
Travel/Registration Expenses: 50%
Racers for Pacers: 25%
Cerebral Palsy Foundation (other): 25%
Now, of course, if we gain enough support, I’d be happy to adjust those numbers to give the charity organizations MUCH more that 25%. Buy anyway, I’m excited about it. I know Charlie loves races and he loves traveling. It might take 10 years for us to complete but we’re going to just keep plugging along we get there. That’s what Charlie does each day. He plugs along and fights each day. He works hard at everything he does at school, at home, at church. I can do the same.
There are good and bad sides to running a course that you’ve never set foot on before. The unfamiliarity of it allow you to just keep your body moving and your mind doesn’t really work against you thinking about that next mile marker or landmark. You can just sit back and enjoy the surroundings, and in the case of Kiawah, it is beautiful. On the other hand, running a distance of a half or full marathon, once your get up over ten miles, it really really seems that those last few miles have been measured incorrectly – and not to your benefit. Particularly Mile 12 at Kiawah when your on a winding undulating cart path.
But, enough about that. I’m was just beaming after Charlie and I finished our longest distance together.
The days leading up, I had quite a few apprehensions and was overall nervous. How would my legs hold up? How was he going to do sitting in the same position for that length of time? But, as all races go, when the gun goes off all of that goes away and you just run. Plus, we were prepared. I’m not an accessorized runner as a lot of people you see out there so I pretty much laced ’em up and go. Charlie has a few more supplies including emergency supplies and meds in case his tone get real bad or he does something like pull his g-tube out (ballon still inflated!). So like I said, I was beaming because he rocked this thing. He laughed and hollered and giggled and smiled the entire 2 hours. I lost count of the number of fellow runners that smiled as we passed them, laughed with him, cheered him on, wanted to talk to him or were encouraged as we trudged on. So it hit me. What he and I do is not just with Racers for Pacers and bringing greater awareness and acceptance for disabled children in physical competition. We bring something to everyone.
Encouragement.
Hope.
Joy.
Laughter.
Love.
This is not some self-absorbed moment. None of this was made known to me until we ran a race of this distance and the reactions and comments and looks that people around us had. With the amount of media coverage that Dick and Rick Hoyt have had in there decades of running together, you would think that more people would have seen disabled runners being pushed in races of this distance. But maybe it isn’t so common. Maybe we need to keep going with this.
Back to the race though. If I hadn’t of had gloves on since if was quite brisk out, I would have actually got some good pictures on this beautiful course. The oaks lining the streets and the gorgeous houses gave you plenty to look out until you head out across a marshy expanse and the mixture of blues and green and orange blended perfect as the morning sun hit and you really just wanted to stop and take it all in. The crowds were surprising good too despite the private island only busing people in to certain areas to cheer on runners. People really came out to support and a lot of the people who live there or were vacationing were set up on their porches or sidewalks. It is no wonder why this gets consistently voted the #1 half-marathon/marathon in South Carolina.
I did “borrow” two pics off Instagram that I found over the weekend that show how nice the course was. You can see their photo credit with their username above the shot.
There are certain things that everyone boy that grows up in Charleston does throughout their formative years. From pluff mud fights to flounder giggin’ at nights, one of those is catching some waves on Folly. I never knew if Charlie would be able to experience that. His body just limits him so much. Even when we run, I strap him in good and he’s super secure so putting him on a board riding a wave was a bit scary. But hey, worst case scenario he gets a little wetter than planned. Now, we did also have a 5k race this day that benefited the Carolina Children’s Charity and we had to be there as our Racers for Pacers group and number of people we know were going to be there. Plus, the Charity has actually helped provide some seating and equipment or Charlie at times so we wanted to show our support. They are awesome! We ran that in 25:49 and were excited because our half marathon training has been paying off. It was great to see it under 26 minutes even with a few hills. After chatting for a few minutes, we made a bee-line for the beach.
around noon. We can feel the sun warm our backs despite the windy day. This city in on a harbor that is where the Intracoastal Waterway turns from the Atlantic side and follows rivers and canals into Lake Okeechobee and on through the middle of Florida and to the Gulf Coast where it then works its way all the way around to the Mississippi River. You can actually take a boat in a complete loop of the eastern half of the US!!! But anyway back to our trip.
Ocean Drive and the Art Deco buildings are amazing! Dinner that night called for some good old southern comfort food at 
And the best part, according to my wife, Fran, was the hotel which was walking distance from all of this. The 
Even Gretta the Labradoodle didn’t seem quite well one day. We even had to take Charlie to MUSC emergency one evening to make sure he didn’t have the flu. So that was a fun night. Then Mama laid the law down and no children were allowed in the cold and Daddy wasn’t allow to get any quick runs in because two sick kids require two parents to play man to man defense. But, I think after this past weekend, we turned the corner. Hopefully a few short runs in here at home with Charlie in the chair and then we’re headed south come Thursday evening!
Running With Charlie Boy 
