Part of the reason that I wanted to come back and continue writing here again was because the next part of my "story" is one that I really want to be able to document and remember. And one of the things that is so meaningful to me about this next story line is that I am expanding "my" story to be not really about me.
I am excited to share that in April 2020 I will be running the Boston Marathon in support of Home Base program, a nonprofit dedicated to providing support and treatment to Service men and women and their families with non-visible injuries. Home Base is a Mass General Hospital and Red Sox organization based in Boston that supports veterans nationwide. They do incredible work, that without sharing too much detail, has become an organization that I will forever be grateful for.
Yes, running Boston Marathon will be incredibly meaningful for me personally, but that is just a cherry on top of being able to support an organization dedicated to a group of people in our American community that has become incredibly personal to me, out Service men and women.
This opportunity came about at a time that I was looking at ways that I could support Home Base, NOT at a time when I was looking at ways to run Boston. That feels like just a bonus.
For those who have been around a minute, you know that Boston Marathon is something that feels deeply personal to me, as to many people from the Boston area. It is our home town race. "Boston Strong" feels like something that beats inside of us. I've watched the Boston Marathon on TV as a kid, pretending to be a runner in my driveway and mimicking the athletes (never actually thinking I could be one myself, I just "pretended.) I've rooted for Boston sports teams for as long as I've known. Attended baseball games at Fenway Park. Spent countless weekends roaming the streets of Boston visiting my friends who moved there after college. I ran my first Half Marathon 2 weeks after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, when our city and the sport I was growing in to was attacked. I went to Boston to cheer at the race in 2014, the year after the bombing and 2 weeks after my first marathon, to return, show resilience, and cheer and celebrate a marathon for the first time as a "marathoner" myself.
And in 2018, I made an attempt to try and get into the Boston Marathon by qualifying. Which did not go my way in the end, and was one of the most mentally and physically challenging experiences of my life.
I was training for my qualifying attempt during the months when my grandmother had her stroke and passed away. During the months where it was bitterly brutally cold in New England. When I felt like my family and I needed SOMETHING to lift our spirits... so I put the weight of the world on my shoulders trying to run faster than I ever dreamed possible. I wanted to be able to give my grandfather - a lifelong Boston native, Boston College graduate and all around Boston die-hard enthusiast - the chance to see me run the race. He has followed and supported and cheered at the race his whole life with my grandmother and her father, and told my mom he "hoped he lived to see the day I ran the Boston Marathon."
So yeah, you could say that running Boston will be meaningful to me personally. But it also means so much more because of this organization.
Which brings me back to Home Base. And the reason I am writing this post today, two days after Veterans Day. This organization has changed the lives - and saved lives - of many Veterans. And I am so proud to be supporting them.
Let me tell you a little bit about how I got here.
Back in August I was researching the Home Base website and looking for ways that I could support. I knew they were based in Boston but wasn't sure if they had other chapters or physical locations where I could volunteer or donate or something. While on their site, I saw pictures of their Boston Marathon team, which struck my interest.
I reached out to the organization's volunteer contact via the website and asked if there was anything I could do remote (which their wasn't) and asked - out of curiosity - about the marathon charity team. I learned that the charity team was very new, 2018 had been their first year, and that it was very small compared to other organizations and they only had about 20 spots. And that registration would open up in September.
I thought about this more, and what it would mean to apply for the team, and if now was the time I wanted to try again at running a marathon and if I wanted to get into Boston via a charity or keep trying to qualify. And ultimately decided that if I had the opportunity to support THIS organization, that would be so incredibly special and meaningful to me that I wouldn't be able to pass it up. Just applying to charity teams is not a guarantee because these spots can be really competitive and having so few spots, I didn't know what to expect with Home Base.
When registration opened, I decided to complete an application. I explained why I was passionate about the organization, which was due to its impact on people in my life. Since Home Base is a part of Mass General Hospital, one of the questions they asked was if I couldn't get in to the Home Base team, would I be interested in some of the other Mass General charities.
I told them no. That if I couldn't run for Home Base, I wasn't interested in running Boston this year. This organization was meaningful for me to support at this time, otherwise, I would pass.
Within an hour of hitting "Submit" on the online application, I received a phone call welcoming me to the team! I was shocked to say the least. The application period didn't even close for another 2 months but as the organizer told me on the phone, "I could have waited but I knew as soon as I read your application that we wanted you on the team so why delay? We want people who care about this cause and that came across."
This is an opportunity I don't take lightly and my fundraising to reach my $10,000 goal is something I will be just as dedicated to as my training over the next 5 months.
Although I still have Ironman Arizona creeping up on me (a week and a half away!) I did want to share my plans for Boston this week on the blog as this past Monday was Veterans Day.
Throughout my life, I can honestly say I have always been thankful for the military Veterans out there, but it hasn't been personal. As with many, my gratitude deepened after 9/11 to service men and women. However, I have never really had a close connection to anyone in the military or anyone with Veteran status. I would thank people for their service when I came across members of the military, and truly felt that way, but it was not a personal thing for and thinking about how to support this group in our community was not a prominent thought in my mind.
Later in life as I have had more friends with military affiliations, watched friends prepare for and go out on deployment, heard and seen the impact on families, and adjustments back into civilian life, the space that this etched in my heart became so deep. And the desire to do something to support Veterans given all that they have given for our country - became so strong. I am so thankful that this opportunity has come for me to raise money for Home Base and to give back to our Veteran community.
This Veterans Day, I chose not to post my fundraising page on social media the day of the holiday. I didn't post anything. I thought about it a while but ultimately felt like I would be "exploiting" the holiday with a call for donations to my charity page. It just didn't feel right to me.
Instead, I watched and I read and I cried at the stories and messages and videos I saw some across my social channels instead. I read about and saw pictures posted from friends about their Veteran husbands and fathers, wives and aunts, grandparents, siblings, and loved ones for whom they are grateful. I used it as a day to give me more motivation towards planning events, organizing fundraisers, and giving me more reason why this cause is something so important for me to stand behind.
That being said, if you are like me, and you have always felt an appreciation for the military men and women who serve our country, but haven't had a close connection or known how to support but would like to - please consider donating to Home Base.
Home Base develops a treatment plan for each individual who seeks out help, working to overcome post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries, in order to successfully return to family life, job, school and community. With Home Base, they work to remove all barriers from patients looking for treatment - no long wait times, access to care regardless of discharge status, and where my fundraising comes into play, payment will absolutely not be a barrier. Home Base covers the cost for treatment for Service men and women.
Please click here to view my fundraising page.
I would love your help in supporting this cause, if you are so inclined, and will continue to share about my fundraising and training efforts in the months to come. Thank you!
I am excited to share that in April 2020 I will be running the Boston Marathon in support of Home Base program, a nonprofit dedicated to providing support and treatment to Service men and women and their families with non-visible injuries. Home Base is a Mass General Hospital and Red Sox organization based in Boston that supports veterans nationwide. They do incredible work, that without sharing too much detail, has become an organization that I will forever be grateful for.
Yes, running Boston Marathon will be incredibly meaningful for me personally, but that is just a cherry on top of being able to support an organization dedicated to a group of people in our American community that has become incredibly personal to me, out Service men and women.
This opportunity came about at a time that I was looking at ways that I could support Home Base, NOT at a time when I was looking at ways to run Boston. That feels like just a bonus.
For those who have been around a minute, you know that Boston Marathon is something that feels deeply personal to me, as to many people from the Boston area. It is our home town race. "Boston Strong" feels like something that beats inside of us. I've watched the Boston Marathon on TV as a kid, pretending to be a runner in my driveway and mimicking the athletes (never actually thinking I could be one myself, I just "pretended.) I've rooted for Boston sports teams for as long as I've known. Attended baseball games at Fenway Park. Spent countless weekends roaming the streets of Boston visiting my friends who moved there after college. I ran my first Half Marathon 2 weeks after the bombing at the Boston Marathon, when our city and the sport I was growing in to was attacked. I went to Boston to cheer at the race in 2014, the year after the bombing and 2 weeks after my first marathon, to return, show resilience, and cheer and celebrate a marathon for the first time as a "marathoner" myself.
And in 2018, I made an attempt to try and get into the Boston Marathon by qualifying. Which did not go my way in the end, and was one of the most mentally and physically challenging experiences of my life.
I was training for my qualifying attempt during the months when my grandmother had her stroke and passed away. During the months where it was bitterly brutally cold in New England. When I felt like my family and I needed SOMETHING to lift our spirits... so I put the weight of the world on my shoulders trying to run faster than I ever dreamed possible. I wanted to be able to give my grandfather - a lifelong Boston native, Boston College graduate and all around Boston die-hard enthusiast - the chance to see me run the race. He has followed and supported and cheered at the race his whole life with my grandmother and her father, and told my mom he "hoped he lived to see the day I ran the Boston Marathon."
So yeah, you could say that running Boston will be meaningful to me personally. But it also means so much more because of this organization.
Which brings me back to Home Base. And the reason I am writing this post today, two days after Veterans Day. This organization has changed the lives - and saved lives - of many Veterans. And I am so proud to be supporting them.
Let me tell you a little bit about how I got here.
Back in August I was researching the Home Base website and looking for ways that I could support. I knew they were based in Boston but wasn't sure if they had other chapters or physical locations where I could volunteer or donate or something. While on their site, I saw pictures of their Boston Marathon team, which struck my interest.
I reached out to the organization's volunteer contact via the website and asked if there was anything I could do remote (which their wasn't) and asked - out of curiosity - about the marathon charity team. I learned that the charity team was very new, 2018 had been their first year, and that it was very small compared to other organizations and they only had about 20 spots. And that registration would open up in September.
I thought about this more, and what it would mean to apply for the team, and if now was the time I wanted to try again at running a marathon and if I wanted to get into Boston via a charity or keep trying to qualify. And ultimately decided that if I had the opportunity to support THIS organization, that would be so incredibly special and meaningful to me that I wouldn't be able to pass it up. Just applying to charity teams is not a guarantee because these spots can be really competitive and having so few spots, I didn't know what to expect with Home Base.
When registration opened, I decided to complete an application. I explained why I was passionate about the organization, which was due to its impact on people in my life. Since Home Base is a part of Mass General Hospital, one of the questions they asked was if I couldn't get in to the Home Base team, would I be interested in some of the other Mass General charities.
I told them no. That if I couldn't run for Home Base, I wasn't interested in running Boston this year. This organization was meaningful for me to support at this time, otherwise, I would pass.
Within an hour of hitting "Submit" on the online application, I received a phone call welcoming me to the team! I was shocked to say the least. The application period didn't even close for another 2 months but as the organizer told me on the phone, "I could have waited but I knew as soon as I read your application that we wanted you on the team so why delay? We want people who care about this cause and that came across."
This is an opportunity I don't take lightly and my fundraising to reach my $10,000 goal is something I will be just as dedicated to as my training over the next 5 months.
Although I still have Ironman Arizona creeping up on me (a week and a half away!) I did want to share my plans for Boston this week on the blog as this past Monday was Veterans Day.
Throughout my life, I can honestly say I have always been thankful for the military Veterans out there, but it hasn't been personal. As with many, my gratitude deepened after 9/11 to service men and women. However, I have never really had a close connection to anyone in the military or anyone with Veteran status. I would thank people for their service when I came across members of the military, and truly felt that way, but it was not a personal thing for and thinking about how to support this group in our community was not a prominent thought in my mind.
Later in life as I have had more friends with military affiliations, watched friends prepare for and go out on deployment, heard and seen the impact on families, and adjustments back into civilian life, the space that this etched in my heart became so deep. And the desire to do something to support Veterans given all that they have given for our country - became so strong. I am so thankful that this opportunity has come for me to raise money for Home Base and to give back to our Veteran community.
This Veterans Day, I chose not to post my fundraising page on social media the day of the holiday. I didn't post anything. I thought about it a while but ultimately felt like I would be "exploiting" the holiday with a call for donations to my charity page. It just didn't feel right to me.
Instead, I watched and I read and I cried at the stories and messages and videos I saw some across my social channels instead. I read about and saw pictures posted from friends about their Veteran husbands and fathers, wives and aunts, grandparents, siblings, and loved ones for whom they are grateful. I used it as a day to give me more motivation towards planning events, organizing fundraisers, and giving me more reason why this cause is something so important for me to stand behind.
That being said, if you are like me, and you have always felt an appreciation for the military men and women who serve our country, but haven't had a close connection or known how to support but would like to - please consider donating to Home Base.
Home Base develops a treatment plan for each individual who seeks out help, working to overcome post traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries, in order to successfully return to family life, job, school and community. With Home Base, they work to remove all barriers from patients looking for treatment - no long wait times, access to care regardless of discharge status, and where my fundraising comes into play, payment will absolutely not be a barrier. Home Base covers the cost for treatment for Service men and women.
Please click here to view my fundraising page.
I would love your help in supporting this cause, if you are so inclined, and will continue to share about my fundraising and training efforts in the months to come. Thank you!
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