Who is this man and why did I volunteer to be on his team site unseen?
"This man" is Terry Hitchcock. In 1996, he ran 75 marathons in 75 days. He did this to raise awareness of the challenges faced by single parents and to honor his wife's memory. (His wife, Sue, had just passed away from breast cancer and he had three young children to raise.)
As Terry's run was made into the documentary MY RUN, the power of the story to continue raising awareness of the issues faced by single parents as well as people affected by cancer gained "legs" that he couldn't have imagined back in 1996 as he made his way toward the Atlanta Olympics.
There are some people in this world who gain your trust and kindle your enthusiasm to the degree that you want to be on their team, even if the finished product has not been laid in your hands yet. This is true for many of the FSU Film students with whom I have directly worked. If they vouch for someone who has entered a contest and needs a Facebook "like," a Twitter "retweet," or some other vote of approval, I really don't need to ask any other questions. That's pretty much how I felt when Tim VandeSteeg and I started discussing the film and its outreach efforts. It took one phone call for me to say "I'm in" and invite all 1,000+ of my Facebook friends to "like" MY RUN also.
This Thursday night (March 31, 2011), at 7 p.m., at the Governor's Square Theatre, I'll get to see the documentary, along with viewers nationwide. It is showing in more than 500 theatres. A portion of the proceeds of ticket sales goes to Livestrong.
All of the benefits of the inspirational message are yours to keep.
Now, for the really great news!! Indiewood Pictures has provided me with two tickets to Thursday night's showing (a $25 value) to give to one of my blog readers!! Subway of Tallahassee is donating a $10 gift card so you can even grab a bite to eat on the way to the movie! Capital City Runners will give the winner $10 off their next $100 purchase. Just do one of these:
1) "Like" MY RUN on Facebook
2) Follow MY RUN on Twitter
3) Visit the MY RUN website here
After you do, post a comment letting me know!
I will choose a winner by 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Please leave me your email address in this format: emailname at provider dot com (for example I would be opuswsk at aol dot com).
This film may have won 10 awards at major film festivals and a "five star" rating from the Dove Foundation. But for me, they had me at "be a part of our team - together we'll be unstoppable."
PS - If you're not one of my Tallahassee readers, but rather one of my legions of readers in other states (ha ha!), I would still love for you to help with spreading the news about MY RUN through Facebook and Twitter!
2 comments:
The very thought of running 18 miles over 36 days has me scared, holy wow 75 marathons over 75 days is crazy! I would love to see the documentary, I'm going to try to get there no matter what!
While I don't believe much in this world happens by chance, I'm still amazed when things work out like this. You know that my friend just lost her husband to cancer and is now a single mother. Guess what? She is an avid runner--it's in her blood. I will have to share Terry's story with her when she is ready. Thank you for your part in such a wonderful cause!!!
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