The Fun Run

The 30th Annual Osteopathic Fun Run was a great success this year. I was one of the co-chairs of the race and I would have to say that planning an event such as this was one of the most rewarding things I have done in a long time!


It was interesting to plan and plan and plan for months and have the day finally come. Once the gun was shot, the race began and I had almost an empty feeling inside, like, "Wow! That was it?"

I was mostly in charge of the sponsorship aspect of the event. I made hundreds of phone calls for months to local business owners and managers. I think I can say that I am a professional nag when it comes to getting donations from people. I am pretty proud to say that I reeled in 58 sponsors of which 25 donated $100 or more worth of goods or services!

135 people ran the race, which was amazing considering [brace yourself] IT SNOWED! I still can't believe that it was snowing on my race day! It made me very angry. That was the only thing about the day that didn't go well. Thank goodness it was something that was out of my control! Only 80 runners participated last year, 170 or so the year before that, so considering the weather, 135 was excellent! I don't know the exact figure yet, but we were able to donate well over $2000 to the American Cancer Society.

I announced these figures at our local Relay for Life last weekend. Afterwards, I listened to the event chairs speak about cancer and how many lives this terrible disease affects. It is so sad to think that just about everyone has a family member, friend or acquaintance who has suffered from cancer. All of my thoughts turned to Kyle, my best friend's brother, so young with so much life ahead of him and how cancer crippled so many of his hopes and dreams and took him away from those who loved him. I will be honest, being a co-chair of the Fun Run this year and having the opportunity to decide what organization we would donate to, all my thoughts turned to Kyle and the ACS.

Planning the Fun Run was more about hours on the phone, banners, ice, oranges, pretzels, people, snow and a stopwatch. It was about fighting back, staying alive... It was about Kyle and all those who have suffered along with him. All the hours were well worth it.