This is real now…

After at least 1.5 years of thinking about this, dreaming it in my head, then verbalizing it, there’s no stopping now. From publishing the website to writing and sending our first sponsorship request, the wheels are in motion. Oddly enough, the last piece of the puzzle was ‘officially’ telling people. With the last of the initial emails going out to my peeps today, we are officially rolling!

With this initial ‘kick-off’ comes many feelings and emotions – the first of which was ‘whoa, this is actually happening!’, followed by ‘can I actually do this?!?’. However, and more importantly, what outweighs these initial thoughts is the immense feeling of support. I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support I have received, and I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge everyone and say thank you. From my loving friends and family to my ever-constant first supporter and donor, cousin Laura, to Dan’s colleagues, my EEC people, the yoga crew and the Halinda cheer team, and the list goes on, I have felt extremely supported from day one.

That said, I would like to mention one experience in particular that has really touched me. Today I sent out my run ‘spiel’ to my coworkers, friends and fellow coaches at Brock. Not long after, the one and only Marty Calder, wrestling coach, Olympian, Olympic coach and ultimate ruler of the Brock wrestling dynasty, replied and thanked me for embracing the challenge. And not only did he reply, he replied-all. You see, Marty has a 26 year old brother currently waiting for his second pair of lungs, after facing chronic rejection with the first set. Marty’s brother, Phil, now lives with Marty while permanently on oxygen and waiting. So why is this significant? Because Marty Calder shared his story and helped it hit closer to home. Because Mart Calder sees people achieve feats of athletic greatness on a regular basis, yet he is behind me and supporting me.

So while not everyone has a positive reaction (‘can you actually do this?!?’ has been heard a few times), I know that I have the best community standing behind me and supporting me, and I know that we haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

So thank you, everyone! Believe me when I say your love, support and well wishes are being felt. Keep ’em coming!

Cheers

Em