It was just 14 months ago, while reading the weblog of Robert Jordan (aka James O. Rigney, Jr.), that "RunningBull's Run" was conceived of in its present scope and scale. Up until that time I had been searching for some reason, for some cause, for something bigger than myself to dedicate my running efforts towards since I had at that point achieved my original running goal: to qualify for and compete in the 111th Boston Marathon (2007). I knew that I wanted to align myself with a charitable group to make a difference in the lives of others with the financial resources that I collected as well as motivate and inspire others through the actual act of running.

Reading about Robert's (he will always be Robert to me, since that is the name he used during the half dozen occasions on which we interacted) battle against Amyloidosis, about his family, about his time in Vietnam, about the simple things in life and all of his plans for the future, brought my conceptual thoughts into focus and aligned me with a cause that already had meaning to my life and for which there exists a continuing unmet need.

At this point many people assume that I signed on to assist the Mayo Clinic or the Amyloidosis Foundation but I chose instead to dedicate my efforts to battle against a more insidious and pervasive disease; Apathy for the plight of our war veterans. I chose to align myself with the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans located in downtown Boston to help raise awareness of their proven and effective programs and services that help rehabilitate and reintegrate our homeless veterans. I wish that there was a simple and direct link associated with this choice or with my decision to undertake such a (relatively) ambitious endeavor. Nobody even blinks twice when a cancer survivor or family member of a cancer victim signs up to raise money for cancer research by running a 10k or Marathon. But when a 32 year old civilian employee of the Federal government announces that he is going to run in a series of races over the course of a year for a combined distance (350+ miles) that exceeds the sum total of his lifetime running career in support of homeless veterans...that gets a bit complicated.

And since I am not a professional writer who can tie this all together nice and neatly I am just going to lay out the key points that when taken as a whole come together, mesh, meld, and result in THIS, this ongoing experience to which I have dedicated 1 year of my life.

• My father is a disabled Vietnam veteran who now resides in the VA Medical Center located in Bedford, MA.
• My favorite author (Robert Jordan) was also a Vietnam veteran, but one who was able to effectively manage the after effects of his war experiences by channeling them through his writings.
• My best friend in high school, my college roommate, 3 of my co-workers, my cousin, my grandfather, my father-in-law, and about a dozen other people who are meaningful in my life are veterans.
• Our nation has been at war against a Terrorist organization since September 11, 2001; though you wouldn't know it based upon the coverage in the media, the urgency in Congress, or the focus of our economy and the output of our manufacturing sector.
• My middle brother celebrated his 20th birthday on September 11, 2001; while I watched on live television from the fitness center of the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, Alaska as a plane crashed into the North Tower.
• Over 4000 American soldiers, many of whom enlisted in response to that attack, had been killed fighting the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq (now over 4730).
• My wife and I attended the NESHV Leave No One Behind Dinner & Auction while she was employed by PWC in November of 2006
• I had met and run with Dean Karnasas in Boston and Chicago during his 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days challenge, after reading his Ultramarathon Man book, and witnessed first-hand the human body's ability to overcome normally recognized limits.
• I wanted to help, not ignore, not pick and choose, and not "pay off" the homeless and the hungry people living on the streets of my city in one of the wealthiest nation's in the world. Especially those who served that nation but somehow slipped through the cracks after returning "home".
• I wanted to give back to other runners; to help them to achieve their goals while I continue to pursue my next goal.

I have learned from this experience that our limits are self imposed. We can go so far beyond what we could ever imagine if we are only willing to focus ourselves and dedicate our time and effort to achieving the goals that we establish. The keys to remember are patience, perspective, perseverance, and positive attitude.

This photo was taken the last time I saw and talked with Robert Jordan. We discussed running, languages, dining in Cambridge, and the joys of travel before he signed my German language editions of The Eye of the World and The Great Hunt. I obtained these books, and three other later volumes, to help keep me motivated on my path to self improvement through learning an additional language since I want to read my favorite stories and experience my souvenirs from Salzburg. However, my language study has taken a back-seat while I have focused on maintaining my physical condition to undertake the challenge of completing the component events of "RunningBull's Run to Honor America's Veterans".

Event Name	Event Date	Location	Event Distance
1. Bataan Death March Memorial	3-30-08	White Sands Missile Range, NM	Marathon (26.2)
2. Boston Marathon	4-21-08	Hopkinton-Boston, MA	Marathon (26.2)
3. NJ Marathon (pace leader)	5-04-08	Long Branch, NJ	Marathon (26.2)
4. Western States Endurance Run 70-mile Memorial Day Weekend)	5-24/26-08	Auburn, CA	70 Mile (trail)
5. POW-MIA Race for Freedom	6-22-08	South Boston, MA	5 Mile
6. Concord Minuteman Classic	7-04-08	Concord, MA	5 Mile
7. Air Force Marathon (pace leader)	9-20-08	Wright Paterson AFB, OH	Marathon (26.2)
8. Armed Forces Run	9-24-08	Cambridge, MA	5.2 Mile
9. Army 10-Miler	10-05-08	Washington, DC	10 Mile
10. Chicago Marathon (pace leader)	10-12-08	Chicago, IL	Marathon (26.2)
11. Marine Corps. Marathon	10-26-08	Washington, DC	Marathon (26.2)
12. Veterans Memorial Road Race	11-11-08	Stoneham, MA	11k
13. JFK 50-Mile Memorial	11-22-08	Boonsboro-Williamsport, MD	50 Mile (trail)

And so now I must run, off to my track workout in preparation for this weekend's Marathon where I will continue my efforts to thank our Armed Forces personnel who continue to risk their lives in defense of an ideal, I will continue my efforts to motivate and inspire the runners who have elected to follow my guidance to achieve their own goals, and I will continue to show our veterans that they have not been forgotten.

Thank you Robert/Jim

You may be one year gone, but you are not (nor will be) forgotten.

May you always find shelter in the Memory of Light.

This past weekend I ran a nice 15 miler in the cool morning fog near my mother's house in northwest NJ prior to visiting with my second youngest brother for lunch to celebrate his birthday. From there, the weekend was a bit of a roller coaster.

I was scheduled to run the NJ Marathon as the 3:30 pace leader, which I did on Sunday morning - finishing in 3:29:34, but Saturday afternoon was absolutely brutal. The temperatures were in the low 40's with howling winds coming in off of the ocean at 35 MPH all accompanied by a persistent misty rain. The pre-race expo was tightly constrained within its big top tent and the crowd was incredibly thick with nervous first timers. I attended the pasta dinner and offered advice and encouragement to a few of those rookies over pasta and salad before a less than appealing hour long drive to the Paterson area where I was staying with my best friend from high school. After 3 hours of sleep, following 2 hours of Gauntlet on the Xbox360, we pointed the car south on the Garden State Parkway and arrived an hour before the start.

Race weather was nearly perfect, especially considering what it looked like just 12 hours earlier, 52-degrees, intermittent breeze off the water, overcast for the first hour. Locking in the pace took about 4 miles while the crowds broke apart and I could corral my group into a relatively cohesive unit so that we hit the 1/2 marathon together at 1:45, right on target. Of course this was while I was battling persistant lower GI pressure that forced me to make a pit stop at the next row of port-a-johns 4 minutes later. Fortunately, I was able to catch up with my group again less than 2 miles later after pushing my pace down to 7:00. Unfortunately, this wouldn't be the only time I had to make use of this tactic during the day.

During my second multiple mile game of catch-up I avoided all of the negative thoughts that would have killed my chances of catching up and getting back on the pace to fulfill my mission, to help other runners reach the finish at their target time of 3:30. I focused on the positive experiences from my recent Boston Marathon. I thought of how I overcame the hills, the heat, the sun, the wind, and a much more prolonged period at a similar pace. I focused on my successes and on the successes of those I had met that weekend; from champions such as Joan Benoit, Lance Armstrong, Ryan Hall, and Pam Reed to the countless number of everyday heroes with whom I shared the road that fine Monday morning. I tried to put this into words just before mile 24 for a runner who needed some additional motivation, and a bit of distraction, but I don't think it came across so well while my pace slowly pulled me away from her. Then again, I don't think it is coming across so well here either so I will just end this as I started - Find your inspiration to keep going, to keep fighting, to keep running - and keep it handy because you never know when you might need it.

I don't have any good excuses as to why I haven't been able to keep to my weekly schedule posting to this blog, but at least I have been able to stay 90% faithful to my training routine, even slipping in a couple of yoga classes this past week to keep me loose.

My only explanation is that St. Patrick's Day, Easter, volunteering with WGBH TV, and the aforementioned 1040 and Mass Form 1 all received higher priority attention than for a blog which never receives any comments so it feels like it doesn't really matter to anyone (except me).

I just got in from 9 miles of random hill work around Somerville at my tempo pace. I feel pretty good except for some slight twinges in my calves that I expect are the result of partial dehydration and excessive pounding on the asphalt roads up and down these hills in the dark. Oh sure, just because it is going to be about 30-degrees warmer on Sunday for my race in the desert at about 5000 feet more elevation than I live and train is no reason to think that maybe I should rethink my goal time of 3:20. Actually, my goal is to finish in the top two places of my division (light civilian male) to bring home a medal to show my disabled veteran father upon my return. Based upon prior results I will have to knock out an awesome personal best finish to achieve that goal, but you never know what you are capable of until you try.

I must thank New Balance (and the Miami Marathon) for the shoes I was provided in exchange for leading the pace group in January. Those NB 1223 shoes have been great for me on my long runs, on these technical runs, and even for mile repeats on the track. By using these shoes I have been able to stretch the life of my other shoes by rotating through them more often, which means that some shoe retailer is going to be very happy with me sometime around August or September of this year.

Okay, time for me to wrap this up and try to get at least 6 1/2 hours of sleep tonight. I am so glad that I am not crazy enough to even attempt to catch any of the Red Sox opening day game from Japan at 6am tomorrow. Nope, I'm only crazy enough to try running 3 marathons in 7 weeks, when my previous minimum recovery time had been 4 months between races. At least I am smart enough to delay donating blood until after that third marathon.