Sunday, October 24, 2010

3 weeks till the Richmond Marathon!

Can we raise $3319 in three weeks?

The Double Marathon Challenge continues.  If our supporters can raise a total of $10,000 by November 13th, Roger will run the Richmond Marathon in his PINK running skirt.  (ooh la la!).  We know that our supportive network can help make this happen!

Two other major events are coming soon.  Get ready to start your holiday shopping because we have some beautiful, original pieces of jewelry inspired by CJSTUF and created by Sarah Blankenship of Crystal Paintbrush.  These pieces will be auctioned on eBay and 100% of the proceeds will go to CJSTUF.  The auction is scheduled to run from November 1-15th.  We will post more details on the website and the blog when the auction is LIVE.  If you missed the announcement in our last blog post, you can view some of the necklaces here.  Here's a preview of a few more pieces:

Finally, we are starting to plan for the 2nd annual Thumbs Up Ball!  Mark your calendars for Saturday, February 12th.  This event was our first official CJSTUF fundraiser and a  tremendous success this year thanks to the Mechanicsville Moms (Cool Spring Chapter).  This year, the baton has been passed to CJSTUF and Alyssa Johansen has stepped up as our Events Chair.  She is currently seeking volunteers who are willing to help with gathering sponsors and planning the event.  If you are interested in helping with this project, contact her directly at alyssajohansen@hotmail.com

That's all the major news to report.  Please continue to keep up with our Facebook and website updates. 


Sunday, October 17, 2010

A long overdue update

So as many of you knew, Roger survived the Chicago Marathon.  Official finish time was 5 hours and 55 minutes.  Roger would like to thank our chiropractor (and CJSTUF board member) Dr. Anna Madland of Atlee Chiropractic for her diligent care before the race and Rachel Pustilnik of Stroller Strides for her exceptional training.  It was a warm day with temperatures reaching above 80 degrees by the end of the race so all things considered, he did a fantastic job!  His recovery has been exceptional as well.  I don't think I've ever seen him in such great condition 24 hours after a long race.

Now on to Richmond....

The typical recommended recovery between one marathon and another is 6 weeks but Roger is going to run ANOTHER marathon in Richmond on November 13th.  That's just a month away.  His goal for the Double Marathon Challenge is to raise $10,000.  Our current fundraising update is that we have collected about $6400.  The University of Miami fans are still leading the charge in pledge donations; however, Roger has raised a new challenge.  If Virginia Tech fans manage to raise more money than UM fans before November 13th, Roger will still run the Richmond Marathon in Hokie gear.  If we reach our $10,000 goal, regardless of pledges, Roger will run in the PINK running skirt!  Yes, folks.  You heard it right here.  If you want to see Roger run in a skirt, we have about a month to gain $3600 more in donations.  You can send donations directly to PO Box 854, Ashland, VA 23005 or donate directly on our website via PayPal.


Speaking of PayPal, I am excited to report that we are now able to accept all forms of payment for orders of T-shirts and window clings.  Just go to our CJSTUF store and place your order directly.  What are you waiting for? Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner!

October is quickly waning but mark your calendars for some very important November events:

Local jewelry artist Sarah Blankenship of Crystal Paintbrush has created a limited edition set of jewelry exclusively for CJSTUF.  We will be auctioning these pieces on eBay from November 1-November 15th.  100% of the proceeds will go to CJSTUF.  There will be necklaces, earrings, pins, and bracelets.  There will be about 20 pieces in total.  All pieces will be one of a kind, hand crafted with semi-precious beads and stones, freshwater pearls, and swarovski crystal butterflies.  Here's a preview:


Word has it that Richmond Magazine will be running a feature on Sarah's jewelry and the charity auction so we are excited for the publicity!



  
Our other major November event is set for Saturday November 20th.  Come out to the parking lot at Henry Clay Elementary School from 9 AM-12 PM for Citations for CJ.  Here's your chance to get a "moving violation" for a great cause.  All you have to do is drive through the parking lot, select your "fine" (ranging from $5-25).  Ashland's Chief of Police will cite you accordingly and then our celebrity judges (Ashland's Mayor Faye Pritchard and the Sheehy Ford judge "Mark Down" (AKA Mark Joy) will collect your fines.  We will also have opportunities for you to get thrown in "jail", getting friends and family to bail you out.  All for a good cause!  Mark you calendars, tell your friends, and get ready to get Ex-Cited for CJ!

I think Roger will share his own post-marathon update so I will end it here.  Thanks for the continued support.  I can't believe 2010 is almost coming to a close.  This has been a great inaugural year for CJSTUF.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Marathon Update-CHICAGO!

Hello friends! We apologize for not updating earlier. Not only have we been busy but we haven’t been near a regular wi-fi connection so this blog post is a little late in coming. BUT HERE IT IS!


First of all, a fundraising update: the Double Marathon Challenge has raised over $300 in the last few days. Way to go and much thanks for the donations. We still have some donations coming in from Chicago folks and we will give you an update by Monday (hopefully) with totals.

Our trip to Chicago was very stress-free. Our good friend Carolyn offered us a ride to the airport even though we had to leave our house at 4:30 AM. It was so nice to have a chauffer that early in the morning (not to mention not having to leave one of our cars in the park n’ go lot). Both flights were smooth and easy. Once we got to Chicago, we hopped on the L train and made our way downtown to find our hostess.

Carolyn also hooked us up with a friend of hers who lives right down on Michigan Avenue. She is our hostess for the weekend. Her loft is just down the block from the 25 mile mark and Grant Park where the race begins and ends. Perfect!

The rest of Thursday was spent resting and settling in. Mid-afternoon, we journeyed out to the ‘burbs on commuter rail to see our college friends, Mike and Rebecca. We had a great dinner with them and were more than entertained by their almost 18-month old son who is chattering like a parrot these days.

Friday was a WALKING day. We walked to the Convention Center (probably about a mile or so from our place) to get the race packet and “walk the gauntlet” (as Roger likes to say) with all the vendors hocking their wares. We got lots of yummy food samples, pulled in lots of swag and met a few other charitable organizations that are fundraising through races. It was great to get in touch with these people and swap stories, business cards, and ideas. You never know where a contact like that may go.

Roger wore his new BALD CHICKS ROCK shirt that came from the New Mexico cancer walk earlier this month. His sister Becky designed the shirts and they look great! Roger got lots of interesting comments and inquiries about the shirt throughout the day. You can't tell in this picture, but the back of the shirt has one of Charlotte's pics in her 'bald chicks' shirt along with the CJSTUF logo on the back.  We saw one woman in Grant Park that commented on his shirt. When she saw it, she pulled off her own wig and showed off her bald head! She is not a cancer survivor but has alopecia.

After our trip to the convention center, we played tourist for the afternoon, walking through Grant and Millennium Park and then down Michigan Avenue and out to Navy Pier. By the time dinner time rolled around, we had walked at least 6 miles (whew!) so we headed back towards our lodgings via bus and L train and ended up at an Irish Pub across the street from our loft for dinner.

I must have been exhausted because not long after returning to the loft and changing our clothes, I was ASLEEP!

So today we begin the final countdown for the Marathon. We have been invited to a matinee performance of Candide and then a carb-loading dinner for Roger with our friends. Tomorrow will begin bright and early. The race starts at 7:30 AM (Central Time); however, Roger’s corral will probably cross the start line at about 8 AM or so. If you text and want to receive text updates of Roger’s progress, you can go to http://www.chicagomarathon.com/ and click on runner tracking. Enter Roger’s bib number (26761) and updates on his progress will be sent to your cell phone. I will try to keep facebook updated as well.

He is hoping to finish in about 5 hours.