As many of you who read this blog know, I am a giant bleeding heart. I blame it on being a psychologist because my profession requires me to empathize with others, to put myself in their shoes. As a giant bleeding heart, I always try my best to help others, whether it is something small like helping a little old lady while out on a run, by volunteering in a more formal fashion (e.g. coaching Girls on the Run) or supporting my friends in their endeavors. Today's blog post is about supporting a man that I feel very honored to call a friend.
A lot of people don't understand why I run or how on earth I could run as far as I do. However, when you compare my experience and distances to my friend, Jimmy's, I look like a kindergartner at a one-mile fun run. Jimmy has been running for the better part of 20 years and in the last few years has polished off 14 marathons and 1 ultra marathon. Jimmy is also a husband, father of three and a member of the US Marine Corps... he is (and should be) very proud of all of his involvement and accomplishments. Jimmy is known for doing great things, but he completely blew me away when he told me of his next endeavor.
Between October 22 and October 26, Jimmy will be running the Espirit De Corps Ultra. A lot of ultras are tests of will, pushing the body to its ultimate limits. A lot of them come with big bragging rights. While this ultra will serve both functions, it is truly serving a much higher purpose. The Espirit De Corps is a 177.5 mile run from Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, PA to the Iwo Jima memorial. 1775 was the date and Tun Tavern was the place that the Marine Corps were born. So, it is only fitting that 5 Marines (Jimmy was recently added to the team, so the website doesn't yet reflect his involvement) run to benefit other Marines. The last day of the ultra will be at the Marine Corps Marathon and all of the money that they raise will benefit the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund.
If you would like to donate, you can do so here; as you can see they have only been able to raise about 30% of their $25,000 goal. You can also support them by sharing their story. Lastly, if you will be at the Marine Corps Marathon, please show your love and support for these strong and courageous men who are running in support of those who have been injured serving our country.
Good luck -- your narrative on Jimmy and his work is inspiring. I ran the MCM in 2007 (my second) so we must have seen each other out there (along with 20,000 of our new best friends). I ran in 2007 as a fundraiser for the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund and I was proud to wear their shirt. Good luck with it.