Running Wild.

My post today was (and partly still is) going to be about my little fundraiser that I put together for a local food pantry and outreach center using FirstGiving.org. This is a great fundraising tool so click on my fundraising page at: http://www.firstgiving.com/swfloutreach or my FirstGiving.org button on the left and check it out. If you feel like making a donation to a wonderful cause, that's cool too. The Southwest Florida Outreach Center provides emergency help in the form of food, clothing, rent, utility, & medical bill assistance to hundreds of people each week. They also operate an addiction recovery program called the House of Hope. This is a small, faith-based operation that works diligently and deals with individuals and families in crisis on a daily basis in Fort Myers, Fl, an area hit especially hard with the housing and economic downturn. I have partnered this great cause of fighting hunger, homelessness, & substance abuse with my recent challenge to myself of running the Tampa Bay Gasparilla Marathon on March 1st. So far we have raised $315 on the way to a goal of $500 that will be spent on food for the food pantry. Check out their good works at http://southwestfloridaoutreachministry.blogspot.com/.

Well, I came up with this idea and now I'm a little embarrassed. Yesterday I saw the headline for another marathon. This marathon is called The Sahara Marathon. Yeah, A MARATHON ACROSS THE SAHARA DESERT! Suddenly, jogging through the beautiful city of Tampa along gulf coast beaches, savoring the nice ocean breeze doesn't sound quite as challenging as it used too...

This Sahara Marathon is an extraordinary event. Not just because it is a 26.2 mile run across the desert either. Insane people-I mean runners-from around the world participate. The event is organized within the saharwi refugee camps. These people have been touched by tragedy and unfair treatment for 30 years as victims of brutal repression and little acknowledgement from the international community. The event aims to bring solidarity to the people in hopes that freedom and sovereignty will follow. Capturing the world's attention and focusing it not just on a crazy race, but on the oppression of the sahawari people and their desire to decide their future through a free democratic referendum is a central goal of this running event. Several improvement projects within the refugee camps are also supported through this marathon. So this isn't a bad little fundraiser either. Definitely adding it to my to-do list. This way I can feel less embarrassed. Learn more at http://www.saharamarathon.org/.