No Time For Crash And Burn

I was on a high today. I was thrilled to be contacted by so many caring people. But there has to be a thorn in each bunch.

The Wounded Warrior Project has no political or religious agenda, so let's keep it at that. Why I am I doing this?

Well, for some reason, I started to love running again. I did so the minute I decided to run the 1/2 in February of 2009. The first time I hit the ground running last December to train for the 1/2 my eyes went to the sky and I only thought of Ryan.

There is this little memory of the last thing I said to Ryan before the New York Marathon in 07, and it was "See you at the race, punk" or something like that. He was after all my little brother. But a day or two before the race, I decided not to go. I didn't feel like dragging Max (my son) around the big city. So, I called to wish him luck, and we know the rest of that story.

In general, I am a private person, but it came to me one morning last week or so that I wanted to honor Ryan in my own personal way. I was thinking about the Ryan Shay Memorial Fund that was set up two years ago, and thought I could raise money for a cause I knew would make him proud.
The Wounded Warrior Project came to my mind after receiving the picture below of two veterans training for a paratriathalon in Chicago on my Facebook. The donation set up was easy, and I never looked back.
I have no doubt he would support an organization that helps wounded soldiers and their families, because they have to work harder than any of us to complete their marathons, triathalons, etc.
My family supported me on the decision, and I am so proud and happy to have John Conley, the Austin Marathon Director be the first to join the team.
Thanks to Gary Brimmer too, who introduced us, and to Dick and Jill Beardsley for reaching out as friends.

This is not political. This is me, nervous as can be, but proud to have my brother as my motivation for reaching this goal.

That's it. Goodnight.