This one's for you Aceyboo!

It's official!! I am now a registered participant for the Park City Marathon on August 21, 2010! My first ever full marathon. Those of you who follow my little blog will remember that last August, as I trained for my first ever half marathon, I heard about a Sam Felsenfeld and his charity, Operation Jack. Sam's son Jack has autism and Sam was going to attempt to run 60 marathons in 2010 to raise money for Train 4 Autism (operationjack.org). My ultimate goal at that time was to train for and run a full marathon in 2010 and so I went online and checked out Sam's race schedule, only to find that he was running the Park City Marathon in August of 2010. At that time I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to not only meet my own goal of running a marathon, but also a fabulous opportunity to help support an incredible cause. So, although I could not officially register for the Park City Marathon at that time, I immediately committed myself mentally and publicly to run with Sam and Operation Jack in Park City.

When I made that commitment I had no idea how special this race would eventually come to be for me. Just three months later a very special person came back into my life. I had not had contact with him or his family for over 20 years and a lucky twist of fate brought them back into my life once again. And with that blessing of family comes a very special boy, Ace. Ace has autism. And watching all the love and commitment, time and energy that his family gives to making sure he gets everything he needs to succeed has touch my heart in a way that I could have never imagined. There are definitely challenges, but his family rises to meet each challenge head on. Ace is a smart, energetic and happy little boy and a blessing to all who have the privilege to be a part of his life. I am lucky to know that I now have the opportunity to be among those who love him and am proud to have the privilege to race this marathon to honor such a beautiful little guy.

I have not only made the commitment to run this marathon, and now will be running in honor of Ace, but I have also set a goal of raising $500 for Train 4 Autism. I have two months left to train and I would like to ask for all of your support, not only in cheering me on to my own goal, which I will desperately need! :) But also, in the next two months, if you gave up just one carmel frappachino (my favorite!) went to my donation page, http://operationjack.kintera.org/pixiedust, and donated that $5 to support this fantastic cause, Train 4 Autism, I would be very grateful!

I am very excited for this adventure and am looking forward to my first full marathon! I will post regular updates on my training, so watch for those and share this special journey with me!