The Guardsmen Raffle

On August 3^rd, I am competing as a member of The Guardsmen Trail Run Team in the Angel Island 12K Race to raise money for Bay Area at-risk youth and the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital.

I became a big fan of The Guardsmen after participating in their Presidio 10 race last year and then again when I did one of their trail training runs earlier this year- I met a lot of The Guardsmen volunteers and after speaking with them about their cause, I was happy to help spread the word.

The Guardsmen help at-risk Bay Area youth by providing outdoor education programs and scholarships. They are committed to making sure that fundraising dollars are spent wisely- approximately 90 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to support programs for kids- so I am holding a raffle in their honor!

More For Boston

Oakland’s candlelight vigil in honor of the Boston Marathon (photo credit: See Jane Run)

Last Thursday, I attended a 3 mile run (1 mile for each victim) followed by a candlelight vigil in honor of the Boston Marathon. The event was organized by See Jane Run and it was fantastic- we ran the streets of Oakland with police escorts, gave several moments of silence for all the victims within the supportive arms of our running community and found a bit of comfort therein. We brought awareness to our city and showed that we won’t be stopped- I felt so honored running through my hometown, people clapping as we ran by saying, “God bless you, runners, go Boston!”  It was moving, it was emotional and it was healing…

PLUS, yours truly got interviewed for the local news that night- click on this pic to catch the brief news segment… I said lots of deep and profound things about how the events in Boston have effected our tribe as a whole but they only used these 5 seconds- I’ll take it!

Click here to see the news clip– I’m at 1:20 (photo credit: BFF Amy)

Technical Difficulties

If you can relate to the above picture, then you know what kind of “technical difficulties” I’m referring to: running clothes. They are EVERYWHERE and it’s becoming quite an issue for me, my closet, and my dresser drawers. I have so much technical gear that I broke 2 drawers right off my dresser trying to shove it all in!

I was stuck home with sick kids yesterday so I did some laundry and went ahead and laid out ALL of my work out clothing on the bed and counted- I’m up to 78 technical shirts and 25 bottoms. And that doesn’t even take into account all the shoes, socks, bras, jackets, hats and headbands I’ve been collecting over the past 6 years.

“Hello, my name is Laura and I’m an addict.” Anyone else care to join me at AAA? (Athletic Apparel Anonymous) 

Auction for a Cure

It’s Officially Auction Time!!!

I joined Team in Training last May to help raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and ran my first marathon, the Nike Women’s Marathon on October 16th.  It was such an amazingly fulfilling experience, I became more than dedicated to the cause and to all the wonderful people and honorees I met along the way. Not wanting to quit, I have decided to train for another marathon with TNT and will be running in the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon on June 3rd. In order to run my second 26.2, I have pledged to raise $2250 for the cause and train six days a week from now until the race in order to help find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma.

Auction for a Cure: Rules & Logistics

My online auction actually kicks off on Monday, January 23rd at 9am PST, but I want to give everyone a heads up regarding the rules and logistics in advance so you can be ready to bid!  All proceeds from this auction go directly to my Team in Training efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Every donation supports a great cause, helps to extend research, and improves patients’ lives.

On Monday, January 23rd at 9am PST I will post all of the items each company has donated. Each item will have a minimum bid of $20. Once the items are posted, all buyers will then e-mail running4thereason@hotmail.com with a bid of what they would like to purchase.

To place an official bid on an item you must e-mail me at running4thereason@hotmail.com any bids left in the comments section will be deleted and NOT reviewed, only bids e-mailed will be considered official and affirmative.