Well, March has come and gone and it's April already in the year of 2021. The March Madness didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, but I had a lot of fun running around dressed in the bigfoot costume. A lot of chuckles and smiles were had on those days. I may run to raise money for a great organization in the Mario Lemieux Foundation, but I also run to have fun. And, if I can add a few smiles along the way, then that's what I'm going to do.
The first attempt took me around Neville Island, Moon Township, and Coraopolis. My plan was to run a few miles, hop in the car, and move on to the next area. A good and sound idea, but it also took way longer than I thought it would take. All in all, I ended up with 22 miles on that first attempt, and four shy of our marathon goal. My next attempt was two weeks later, and even still, it got really warm really fast, so I was only able to pound out 11 miles. South Park was just as fun to run in costume, though. What was to be the swan song for Bigfoot was last weekend, was not able to happen. The weather simply did not want to cooperate. It was pretty warm, and it was also pretty wet. I don't know about you and what you think, but wet dogs smell terrible. I can only imagine what a wet Bigfoot smells like. (I'm betting not like roses.)
Now, that being said, this Saturday looks to be perfect for these types of shennanigans! So, Bigfoot shall live once more, and he's headed back out to the airport area. Plenty of safe spots to run, as well as an area I know very well. But, that's not all. We will be going the full 26.2, and again, this one is for you. For those that donated this year, I gave you the option of dedicating one of my virtual miles. This will be your marathon, and there will be no turning back. All 26.2 will be done on Saturday morning and no matter what, we will finish. (The temps are looking good right now!)
We've had an excellent response to this year's fundraising campaign. In fact, we've had more donations that we have miles for this marathon. I did pair a couple together in the final few miles, as they all sort of go hand in hand with each other so I hope you do not mind. Also, there are still a few left over, and I will get those in on the next race as soon as a receive their dedications.
So, without further adieu....
Mile 1: Donna Koffler, dedicated by Don, Kaelee and Kolson
Mile 2: Tom Cardimen, dedicated by Pete Cardimen
Mile 3: Hope Moser, dedicated by Dawn Litterini
Mile 4: Tom Wright, dedicated by Cara Group
Mile 5: Ed Sturm, dedicated by Ken Freeman
Mile 6: Steve Brooks, Bill and Linda Fitzpatrick, dedicated by Brian and Danielle Fitzpatrick
Mile 7: Owen Bonn, dedicated by Kevin Schuetz
Mile 8: Alice Noll, dedicated by Eric Noll
Mile 9: Carole Holst, dedicated by Mark Holst
Mile 10: Amy Brady, dedicated by Rick Donahue and Beth Macino
Mile 11: Rick Donahue, dedicated by Dave and Marla Gibson
Mile 12: Lou Majetic, Dedicated by Sara Majetic
Mile 13: Gianna Hamstead, Dedicated by David and Bonnie Hamstead (Little GiGi!)
Mile 14: The Clay Family, dedicated by David Demme
Mile 15: Madilynn McClain, dedicated by Doug and Olesia Johnston
Mile 16: Thomas Pugh, dedicated by Jennifer King
Mile 17: Lori Crowe, dedicated by Amanda Gillooly
Mile 18: Cy Clark, dedicated by Joanne Clark
Mile 19: Ruth Tidrick, dedicated by Kimberly Tidrick
Mile 20: Dan Corbett, dedicated by Keri and Bob Coulter
Mile 21: Elizabeth Hull, Dedicated by Mike Burns and Marlene Hull
Mile 22: The Haas And Drake Family, dedicated by Eric and Stephanie Haas
Mile 23: Joe Kustra, dedicated by Dan Kustra and family
Mile 24: Wesley Zablocki, dedicated by State College's Velveeta
Mile 25: All of those at the Mario Lemieux Foundation, dedicated by Brent Martin of Velveeta, as well as Rebecca And Seth Abrams (for all of those that benefit from the work of the foundation)
Mile 26: Science, dedicated by Eric Hoye, and since these few things sort of go hand in hand these days.....
Mile 26: Frontline Workers in Healthcare, dedicated by Linda Smith, and
Mile 26: World Peace and Harmony, dedicated by the Rose Family
(I hope you all don't mind sharing the last mile.)
.2 is just to get it done.....
Kevin Oshea wanted to dedicate a mile to me, but I had to play an UNO skip card and pushed that back to Bernie Augier since they have been life long friends. And since Bernie is on my personal list, Kevin gets to bogart the dedication on my list. It just makes sense.
Again, I thank you all for your donations. We've all done good work these past 8 years for the Mario Lemieux Foundation. With your help, we've raised over $27,000. Not bad for 8 years of running madness. And again, I did this all with your help. So...we did this folks. We did this.
And with that, keep on running Pittsburgh.
Sinceriously,
Chuck Hull, The Running Jedi
#26miles26dedications #teamlemieux #therunningjedi #sadquatchwatch
PS: There is still time to donate and get in on those raffle prizes. All you have to do is click the link to donate.
Prizes of course include: A signed Mario Lemieux Jersey, A Pens Mini Helmet Signed by Mario Lemieux, A book about Mario, signed by Mario, A Samsung Galaxy Tab A (8" screen), hoodies, tshirts, and more!
