| This October 7, days before our son Matthew's second birthday, I’ll run my seventh Chicago Marathon, hoping to improve on my epic 20,219th-place personal best. I'm training hard and may have a shot at winning if the Chicago area's top 20,000 runners all manage to oversleep. I've come a long way since my first marathon in Honolulu, in which my wife Paula and I narrowly defeated a man running the race backward while wearing a pink leotard.
While my participation won’t cause Kenyan runners heartburn, my run has a purpose. As an environmental lawyer and father of two, I'm pleased that this year I’ll be fund-raising for a wonderful nonprofit group, the Healthy Schools Campaign. The Illinois-based campaign works locally and nationally to improve environmental health and nutrition in schools. It provides training for school stakeholders such as school nurses, teachers, and parents; advocates for "green cleaning" and school wellness, promotes healthy eating habits in schools, and supports school health policy initiatives.
As I prepare to run for school health, our daughter Amelia has started kindergarten at Oakland's Glenview Elementary School. Amelia says she'd like to run a marathon with me, if she can wear a Hello Kitty outfit and sparkly shoes.
I'm far from a born athlete (in eighth grade, the football team created a third string just for me). But this run gives me a great chance to get reconnected, to my body, to family, and to the dazzling skyline and neighborhoods of my ancestral home. It also brings me to Chicago in October just in case the Cubs do the unthinkable for the first time in 99 years. Your contribution will ensure that regardless, there will still be an important victory.
PS: If you’d like to suggest some great running songs, I may feature them on my music website http://www.stuckbetweenstations.org
PPS: I hope to get HSC’s running captain, NPR’s Peter Sagal (“Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me”) to use his clout to get Carl Kasell’s message on our answering machine. |
| I hope you will join me in supporting Healthy Schools Campaign. I am running The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2007 on behalf of this vibrant and growing not-for-profit organization. Healthy Schools Campaign addresses the growing problems of obesity and asthma among schoolchildren by promoting improved nutrition, increased physical activity, and healthy environments. Healthy Schools Campaign's programs are making a difference in Chicago, throughout Illinois, and across the country. I hope you will support these efforts. Thank you! |
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