BURNING RIVER 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN
Never before have I witnessed such an amazing event. I witnessed the end of a 100 mile race for the first time this weekend and I'm still trying to find the words to explain it. I witnessed tremendous acts of courage, bravery, and determination. I witnessed people who pushed themselves past their breaking point and keep on going. I saw both laughter and tears. I saw pride and a strong sense of accomplishment on the runner's faces as they crossed the finish line. Runners, you are incredible. You are INSPIRING. Congratulations to all the runners, and thanks to all the volunteers who made their day special. This race was well organized from top to bottom. I witnessed the RD, Joe Jurzyck, personally shake the hand of every runner that crossed that finish line. Incredible! Job well done - everyone!
I took many photos of the finish line Sunday a.m. (Beginning at first light - I didn't want to blind the poor runners with my flash!) I have uploaded them all to the WalMart photo center, please feel free to purchase your photos for whatever the price walmart charges for them (I think 20 cents is the cheapest). You can also find the same photos on my facebook page.
http://photos2.walmart.com/walmart/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=3814369002/a=15094613_15094613/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=walmart/
Just a few of my favorite moments from the finish line:
I2P Pizza Party and One Mile Fun Run
Saturday is the big I2P pizza party and fun run at our house! Bring your kids - this is an event created to inspire kids and educate them on I2P. Need more details, send me a message! We will have a one mile fun run, volleyball, human foosball, a bonfire, and the bigun: FOOD!!!! Please come, you are all welcome!
My I2P speech/flyer for Saturday, will be directed towards the kids:
Q: What is Impossible2Possible?
A: Impossible 2 Possible is an organization that was created by Ray Zahab, an ultra runner who lives in Canada. I2P’s goal is to encourage all of you to reach beyond your limits. They want you to realize that nothing is impossible. If you put your mind to it, hard work into your goals, there is nothing that you CAN’T do!
The impossible will become POSSIBLE. There are no limits. YOU have the power to change the world. I2P uses adventure to educate and inspire to make positive changes in the world.
I2P uses adventure to cultivate a generation of leaders. YOU. Kids who are old enough, usually 17 years old and up can apply to go on youth expeditions, at no charge. If you aren’t old enough – you can do the next best thing. You can ask your teacher, principal, school to follow along in school. All I2P expeditions will make use of t.v., film, and the internet to broadcast these expeditions and spread messages on human and environmental issues. Previous students have followed I2P’s expeditions to Baffin Island, Tunisia, and Siberia. You are considered part of the expedition team, and as you follow along you get to ask questions and do experiments based on what is happening during the expedition. Sound better than just reading some boring textbook? It is! And the best thing about it is it’s all free! There is NO cost to the teacher, NO cost to the school, and NO cost to you. I2P’s goal is to simply to reach 1 million young people that will become agents of change. That basically means I2P wants you to take action! Is there something wrong in your community? Think of ways to change it! Some examples of students changing the world are:
Trailblazer elementary: They are selling “Otter Pops” at lunch to raise money for GivingWater, an organization that helps people get clean drinking water. You know – we have it easy here in the U.S. We just go into the next room, straight to the faucet, and BAM! Magic – we have clean drinking water. We’re USED to it. What you may not realize though, is in many places it’s not that easy to get clean water. One billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water. 3.900 children die every day due to the lack of clean water. Some students at Trailblazer Elementary heard this, didn’t like it –and thought “What can we do to change that?” They took action and started selling their “Otter Pops” to help raise money to build wells for these communities. This is what being an “Agent of Change” is.
Riceville School decided to have a hat day to raise money for their well project. Students paid $1 to wear a hat to school.
D’arcy McGee School held an all night ball hockey tournament to raise money, and Southside Elementary school held a Candy Gram sale around Valentine’s Day.
All these students are making big changes in the world – and you can, too!
About the founder of I2P:
Finally, a word about the founder of I2P, Ray Zahab. Ray made history when he ran across the Sahara desert with 2 other runners, Charlie Engle and Kevin Lin. There’s a documentary movie about the run on Cinemax, or you can rent or buy the movie – but it’s very very good. It follows their entire run across one of the harshest climates on the entire planet. They ran for 111 days - nearly 40 miles every day through 6 countries. He also ran across Lake Baikal in Siberia and traveled 1100 km’s in the South Pole – he was the first person to do so without skis. He was just wearing his snowshoes.
Now, you can follow along on these same adventures, just convince your teachers! The next expedition will be to the Amazon. 4 youth ambassadors will be picked to actually go on the trip (they’ve already submitted their applications. The I2P team is in the process now of choosing the 4 kids who will go with them). You can still be a part of the team though by following along in your classroom. It’s free, just let your teacher know about it! Give them this flyer, or led them to the Impossible2Possible website. Many many schools have signed on so far – you guys are all missing out on all the fun! Your teachers will have questions, though. Lots of them – I’m sure. Just point them in the direction of the website - http://impossible2possible.com/education and they should find all the answers they need. They can also email or call any of the following people:
Ray Zahab - i2P Founder
• email: rzahab@impossible2possible.com
• phone: +1 613.868.2888
• web: rayzahab.com
Bob Cox - i2P Executive Director
• email: bcox@impossible2possible.com
• phone: +1 614.296.2736
Dr. Ewan Affleck - Education Director
• email: eaffleck@impossible2possible.com
Mark Dohn - Education Program Coordinator
• email: mdohn@impossible2possible.com
• 8.2460 +1 818.448.2460
For a list of schools that have participated in the program so far go to http://impossible2possible.com/education/schools
i2P adventures:
What could be better? It’s free, it’s adventure, and teachers love it because it’s educational!
• Are challenging: physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
• Push the limits of what seems possible to the adventurer
• Provide young people with a two way street of communication through a live website
• Young people are active team members whether through web communication and learning or active participation in an adventure
• Include a service component relevant to the adventure setting
• Challenge and improve the adventurer's knowledge, understanding, and ability
• Increase awareness of the environment's impact on humans, and humans' impact on the environment
• Expand the adventurer's personal definition of what is possible
• Involve risk (not to be confused with danger) including a risk of failure
• Require extensive intellectual, physical, and logistical preparation
• Require assistance from others
Push the adventurer beyond herself physically, geographically, socially
No comments:
Post a Comment