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Just over a year ago, on December 22, 2012, I participated in the first “26.4.26” run in Nashville for the victims of the Newtown shooting. Each of us was asked to carry an “angel” card with the name of one of the victims (pictured left). It was an emotional, but awesome experience to see the running the running community come together in such a big way. The following is what I wrote immediately after finishing the run:

26.4.26 – it wasn’t easy, but little Grace and I made it all the way through today. 26.38 miles completed in 3 hours and 43 minutes. I faded a bit in the last of the 4 loops but I was determined I wasn’t going to walk a step. I thought a lot today about Grace and the 25 other precious souls that lost their lives in the senseless tragedy at Newtown. We need to continue to pray for those families. I’m proud of the city of Nashville and our awesome running community for supporting this effort in such an overwhelming way. It was awesome to be a part of it.

Back in December 2013, rumors started to fly that one of the co-founders of the 26.4.26 Foundation could not account for over $70,000 of the approximately $103,000 that was raised by runs across the country.

Yesterday, this was essentially confirmed when the other co-founder stepped forward and explained that his partner had been caught purchasing personal items with some of the money, and then cut off all contact. I’m still hoping this is somehow not true, but it sure seems like things are very amiss.

The following articles were published on USAToday.com and Tennessean.com, and explain what is known so far:

• $70,000 in Newtown donations missing, says Nashville-based charity (Tennessean.com)
• $70,000 in Newtown donations missing (USAToday.com)

This absolutely breaks my heart. I keep thinking, “How could someone possibly do this?”

26.4.26 Foundation to Deliver $30K From Marathon to Sandy Hook

It didn’t seem possible back in September, when I was on the shelf with a femoral stress fracture, but today I crossed the 2000-mile threshold for 2012. 

Not sure what this means in the grand scheme of things, but it still feels pretty cool. I haven’t had many run related posts recently, but things have continued to go well in my training for the 2013 Rock n’ Roll NOLA Marathon in February.

The weather in Middle Tennessee has been a bit unpredictable, from days where it is in the mid 60s by 6am to days where you need two pair of gloves. Last Thursday I finished a track workout at Vanderbilt with the JSRC in 30+ mph wind. It was brutal and felt like I was running in place in the turns. It was such a crazy night that we took a picture at the end to commemorate those who survived 🙂

Today was one of those days where you know you’re a real runner with wind, sleet, and snow pounding you in the face throughout. Even so, Nathan and I still cranked out a good 7-miles through Belle Meade.

By far the highlight of the past couple of weeks was participating in the 26.4.26 run last Saturday in honor of the victims of the Newtown tragedy. The course was a 6.5-mile loop, and runners could choose to run it once or up to four times for a total of 26 miles for the 26 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary.

My longest run since coming back from the stress fracture had been 17-miles on Dec 8th, so I was definitely not trained to run 26-miles. However, on the Thursday before the event I decided I was gonna give it a shot.

Each runner was asked to carry an “angel” with the name of one of the victims, and mine was for Grace McDonnell, age 7:

It wasn’t easy, but little Grace and I made it all the way through 4 loops. 26.38 miles completed in 3 hours and 43 minutes. I faded a bit in the last of the 4 loops but I was determined I wasn’t going to walk a step. I thought a lot that day about Grace and the 25 other precious souls that lost their lives. I’m proud of the city of Nashville and our awesome running community for supporting this effort in such an overwhelming way. It was awesome to be a part of it.

I found out later that the entire thing was born of out a text message that was sent from one friend to another suggesting a group run the following Saturday of 26-miles to honor the victims. After that it was posted on Facebook, and they ended up with 1,012 runners, and many, many volunteers.

Hope everyone else out there is doing well with their running, and enjoying the Christmas Season!

Beast Mode…ON!

Another video of the 26.4.26 running event yesterday for the Newtown victims. There might even be a sighting of yours truly in this one!

Video about the 26.4.26 run in Nashville yesterday in honor of the 26-victims in Newtown, CT. What an awesome event! I feel so privileged to have been able participate.

Today I signed up for an running event this Saturday that was organized by Robbie Bruce with X3 Endurance / Nashville Running Company. The idea is to run up to 26-miles to raise money for the 26 victims of the Newtown, CT tragedy this past Friday. I’m not sure if I’m in 26-mile shape or not, but I’m gonna give it a shot. Their goal is to raise $26,000 to go to the families of the tragedy. If you live in the Nashville area, please come out and join this effort. The course is a 6.5-mile loop, and runners can choose to run it once or up to four times for a total of 26 miles. All runners are asked to donate at least $1 for each mile completed. You can get more information by visiting the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/events/206120006191196/?ref=ts&fref=ts

If you are not in the Nashville area, but would like to help, a website has been setup to accept donations:

http://www.x3gear.com/collections/donations/products/26-4-26-sponsorship

An article about this event was featured in today’s issue of The Tennessean

Nashville runners to hit street to benefit Newtown