Time To Do Some Good

Tis the season for outreach to our less fortunate and also a time to be thankful for all the blessings we do have.  I currently sit on the board of the Northland Sports Alliance here in Kansas City, Missouri.  We offer a plethora of recreational and competitive team sports for the youth in our area.  We offer a scholarship program for parents to enroll their children even in hard economic times.  This program is built on donations from you.  Please read below and donate if you can. 

 

     Yes it's that time of year again, time to be pandered to for your generosity.  The time of year where we set our expectations high because we know you will help us reach them.  Last year we set a goal for our scholarship fund to hit $5,000 and we made it with your help.  The group was small but mighty.  This year we would love to have more participation.  If every person that receives this made a small contribution, we would hit that $5,000 mark in no time.  Last year we were able to sponsor over 70 kids.  Kids that would not normally have the opportunity to play.  I can't tell you about all 70, but I can share a story about one family. 

 

     This one family in particular has three kids.  These kids are very active in sports, playing something all the time.  They are a typical family in our program.  Parents love the kids, kids love the parents, they may even have a dog - they could be any one of us.  However, this year they were hit hard and they had to make choices.  Those choices included some tough decisions.  The mom called us on the last day to register and as we were doing her registration we asked her which child she was registering first (because we knew all three played.)  She started to cry and said she only had enough money to register one of her kids.  They all wanted to play but she couldn't afford it so she was letting the oldest one play and was hoping things would be better by the next season.  The two younger ones were disappointed but she said they would be okay, she was hopeful things would all work out.  First, we couldn't imagine the heartbreak for this mother to tell the two younger ones they didn't get to play this season.  Second, we couldn't let this happen - do you know why?  Because we have you!  I wish all of you could've been with us when we told this mother that we had funds available for situations just like this.  I helped her get all three registered and I told her things would turn around.  Some day, maybe even today, she could pay it forward and help out another family when they might be in the same situation.  Those tears were suddenly tears of joy (both mine and hers).  We don't "advertise" our scholarship fund regularly so a lot of people who have never needed it, don't really know about it.  Well, I am here to tell you it exists and it gets used.  

 

     I wish I could tell you about each one of our families.  Some have gone through divorce, others a job loss, or a medical crisis.  I know things will turn around for a lot of them.  We have very few families that continue year after year on our scholarship program which tells me things will get better for some while others learn about our scholarship fund for the first time.  The key is to let these kids continue to play.  Unfortunately, we can't do that without your help.

 

     Think about how you can make a difference in a child's life.  Imagine if that family above wasn't able to let all three kids play.  Can you imagine the reminder every week when the two younger ones went to watch the older one play - disappointment for both the kids but also the parents.  Imagine a child going through a divorce - their soccer team may be their only outlet with their friends on it - that could be what gets them through a difficult situation.  Imagine a child with a mom or dad that has cancer, I can't even begin to tell you how important those friendships are.  Some of our teams have been together through all of these situations.  Those parents rally around those kids and continue to tell them everything will be okay.  I know these families appreciate the help.

 

     Please consider helping out.  It's easy.  Just click here https://www.spcaa.com/donate.aspx.  It's fast.  Or if you prefer, you can mail a check to the address below.  It's not the amount that's important, every little bit helps.  Last year we had donations as low as $10, those donations added up to $5,000.  I know we can do it again, won't you help out?  I'm counting on you!

 

     With your help we will be able to continue our scholarship program.  I am proud to say we have never turned down a child because of their inability to pay.  I give you my word, we never will. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Stephanie A. Schieber

Director

Northland Sports Alliance

8341 NW Mace Road

Kansas City, MO  64152

Pilgrim Pacer Half Marathon Adventures

Writing about running was always a central theme of what I wanted to do with this blog.  Much like my life this was taken over by ideas and things and pulled in a different direction, namely my kids. I make no apologies for that but I wanted to get my thoughts on a recent race I ran and a blog I read.

Here is the blog: http://www.therandomride.com/The_Random_Ride/%28anti%29Blog/Entries/2010/10/29_Something_old...something_new.html

The ideas put forth in here really appeal to me.  So I wanted to think back to what running means to me.  I ran my first road race when I was eight or nine.  It was a one mile fun run around Capaha Park in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I finished second and was devastated.  Normally one would think not winning something you have never done before wouldn't be that dire but that's not how I'm wired.  I'm pretty sure I had some sweet Roo's or street shoes with no consideration for what "running" shoes were. As time went by, I forced my Mom to get me the latest and greatest running shoes from Eastbay and figured these would put me over the top.

Now, it really doesn't matter to me that much. My newest set of kicks are here:

They are Adidas Marathon 10's.  Sort of a throw back to some of the earliest versions of "marathon" shoes that Adidas made.  Pretty simple really, good support, pretty light, a little bit of yellow, they stay tied, pretty much everything I need to go out and run.  I'm not a big believer in replacing shoes every 1000 miles or whatever, I do believe in getting new insoles but as long as they aren't falling apart we are all good.

These beauties have led me to two PR's (personal records) in my last two races.  3:21:10 in the KC Marathon and 1:29:10 at the Pilgram Pacer Half Marathon.  Personally, if you are trying ten different brands of shoes, clothes, gear, goos, etc., it's not there fault you are slow, it's you, train more.

What training will do is help you to overcome unexpected obstacles.  The Pilgram Pacer Half was a fantastically organized race by the Kansas City Trail Nerds.  What was unexpected was the weather (about 35 degrees, very strong consistent winds, and very hilly.  This was the first time I had been out to Unity Village in Lee's Summit, Missouri so I was not familiar with the course. It was actually the first time being held here as well so most of us at the starting line were in the same boat.  I found some nice dude from Atlanta who was running 50 half marathons in 50 states and asked him what he thought he would run it in.

"Around 1:26:00."  That sounded good to me so I told him I would run with him.  He lasted at that pace for about a mile.  Then, it was on me for the next twelve. This race was four 5K loops. The halfers did a short out and back at the beginning to get in the extra 7/10ths we need for the half.  That was actually kind of cool because it made me realize only four people were ahead of me and one I would pass fairly shortly.  As I'm running up and down the short steep hills I kept thinking. "I have finished top three in one of these things, that would be awesome." Well, I got passed with about a half mile to go and didn't feel like suffering anymore than necessary so I let him go. 

In the end it wasn't so bad. I won my age division and took fourth overall. My girls had a blast playing in the bounce house, and my wife got to visit with a friend and get a better understanding of why I do this to myself.

Running is simple. It's a human expression of what we are capable of as a species and what we can overcome.  It also gets me out of the house for two or three hours at a time. Amen to that.

The Pink Elephants

The Pink Elephants