This breaks my heart >> “$70,000 in Newtown donations missing” (26.4.26 Foundation)

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:

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

The Next Chapter: Double Digit Distance!

NextChapter

It wasn’t pretty, and it sure wasn’t fast, but for the first time since returning to running back in November I completed a run with double-digit total mileage.

On a brisk and beautiful morning on Old Natchez and Moran with our running group, I completed 11-miles at a 9:23 average pace. My legs were absolutely toast at the end, but it still felt Great!! Big milestone for “The Next Chapter.”

That is All…

The Next Chapter: January 2014 Running and Fitness Goals

NextChapter

This blog has not featured much in the way of running content recently, but I’m excited about getting back to the business of training and getting fit in 2014. After taking 2-months off from running with various injuries in late 2013, I finished with the year with a meager 33-miles in November and 34-miles in December.

For 2014 I’m going to take it month-to-month with my goals, trying not to get too far ahead of myself. To that end, here are my goals for January:

  • Run an average of at least 20-miles per week
  • Workout for at least 30-minutes per day (except Sunday)
  • Lose 8 pounds

I got off to a good start this morning, running 5.5-miles with my group through the streets of Belle Meade on a brisk but beautiful New Year’s Day. Ran the entire way with my friend John, and really enjoyed the conversation.

Hoping to get back to running track workouts with the group tomorrow night!

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