Hospitals for Humanity...and for running

HFH has been bit by the running bug! Some volunteers and staff have chosen to participate in the Chicago Marathon this October along with other RUS runners, Miri, Mark, myself, and I suspect a few of you blog followers. Unfortunately, they missed the registration cutoff, so in order to participate, they've paired up with OE Runners, an official charity of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. I am honored and humbled that the Race Within US has inspired these volunteers and staff members to take on the challenge of a marathon, and personally intend to support them in their training as much as I can, and I hope that some of you fellow runners will share your training tips and encouragement with these runners as they tackle their first marathon. A great way to do this is to join our google group to start discussions on your favorite races and training tips. I encourage the HFH team and any other blog fans to join by emailing theracewithinus@gmail.com to be added to the group. Joining the group will also get you automatic emails of our blog postings, and seriously, who would want to miss out on that? You can also join our facebook group and share your tips and words of encouragement that way (just enter The Race within US in your facebook search bar and we should pop up).

In addition to needing your support and encouragement during training, these first time marathoners will also need your fundraising support. As part of the OE Runners team, they are required to raise a certain amount to participate, and, of course, the main reason they're doing this is to raise money for the HFH cause. You can help the out by doing the following: 1) Go to the HFH website, http://www.hospitalsforhumanity.org/; 2) Click on the Donate button; 3) Enter your super duper top secret confidential payment information (it's a secure site); 4) Enter the name of your fav HFH runner or just "Chicago Marathon" in the memo section before you submit your payment; and then 5) Submit your donation. Weeee! Doesn't that all sound like fun?

So my first tip to the HFH team, should you happen to be reading this, is to find a good training program. I've used Hal Higdon's in the past, but some people swear by Jeff Galloway. (Sorry if I screwed up the spelling on those). The Galloway method is less daunting to some because it lets you walk a bit. Sometimes it's less scary if you aren't thinking you've gotta run the whole darn thing. Oh, and if you think those hydration belts are as uncomfortable and dorky as I do, let me know. For those of you training in Chicago, I've got some routes mapped out that allow you to hit drinking fountians throughout the city. And I know of a good washroom pit stop here and there as well (those will come in handy on those longer runs).

Good luck and welcome to the unique group of people crazy enough to run 26.2 miles on purpose even when no one is chasing you!