Many of us in the Watertown Area Run Club, WARC, have signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon on Oct 1 this year, and many others for the 10 mile run. We are jumping in anticipation of why we are doing this race. It is for charity, and a very special charity. We are running for ongoing research in regards to Friedreich’s Ataxia. Friedreich’s Ataxia is a rare inherited disease that causes a gradual breakdown of the nervous system. It affects nerves in the brain and the spinal cord that control movement. It also affects sensory nerves that help with coordination. About one in 50,000 people in the United States have Friedreich’s Ataxia. In Watertown alone, there have been at least 4 people. For me, they are family members of friends, and also, relatives. I have had at least 3 cousins affected by this. So, Sarah and I have decided, along with many members of our WARC, to run for a cause this Fall. We are going to run for Team FARA!
Team FARA is Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance. All money raised will go towards continuing research in the hopes of finding a cure. Sarah and I have many charities requesting financial assistance from us throughout the year. It is impossible to give to all of them, even though we want to. We have to pick and choose. Tom Batta, whose is a member of WARC, has a daughter with this disease. And as I said above, I have multiple cousins/relatives affected by this. I can’t think of a better cause to run for, and donate to. So, Sarah has signed up to run the marathon. This will be her first marathon ever! She is very nervous about this, but thinks if she were ever going to do one, she could not think of a better reason to try than this. Not only are we going to run, I am donating $1000.00 to her fundraising efforts, and she is going to donate $1000.00 to mine. We will continue to ask repeatedly, through Facebook, or this site, for anyone who wants to donate for this cause. You can get on the internet and type out Team FARA 2017 Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance, and it will direct you to the website. A direct website is http://fara.convio.net/site/TR?fr_id=1371&pg=entry. It then has listed on the left side where you can type in the participants name, so either Sarah or I, or our team, which is Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and 10 Mile. It does not matter who to list if for otherwise, it can be put under our team. We are all working for the cause. As of this writing, there are currently 12 full marathon participants, 10 of which are members of WARC, and 9 people that are running the 10 mile! One of our WARC members, and my good friend and training partner, Tom Beaudry, is donating $26.20 for each member of WARC participating…to represent the 26.2 miles we will be running for the marathon!
Sarah and I will continue our training together, and running for a very good cause! Please consider joining us. How much more motivation could there be than to run for a charity…to exercise and run when we have the ability, in order to help somebody who cannot? People with Friedreich’s Ataxia would run in this if they could, so we will help them out by running for them. That is what becoming a better you is all about! Appreciate all of our abilities, physical and mental, and join in. The rest of us have no other excuses, except what our mind is telling us. Take advantage of our abilities, and put them to good use. For those of us running this event, we can use all the support we can get…motivational, encouragement, and financial. Please consider donating!
Run for someone else. Exercise for someone else! Become a better you, and…
Doing this for another cause can be more rewarding than anything else life has to offer. Not only do we need to Strive to Survive, but let’s help someone else achieve this too! Keep moving everybody!
Dr. Dan
Consecutive Exercise Day #: 3536