Shamrock Shuffle

I will be participating in a 5K walk to raise money for kids in poverty around the world. Over 30,000 kids die every day, mostly from hunger and preventable diseases, so I've set a goal for myself to raise $1,000 to help World Vision's efforts to relieve both the immediate needs of the kids and to address the root causes of their poverty. (I know it sounds like I copy/pasted that sentence in from a website somewhere, but I actually wrote it. I'm pretty familiar with World Vision and I'm really comfortable with the way they spend donors' money. Otherwise, I wouldn't ask you for it.)

Additionally, my friend Michael is trying to get a new program up and running called Team World Vision, which is trying to make it easy for other athletes like me (did you catch that funny right there?) to raise money for these kids while running the races that they are already intending to run. So, my participation in this race will raise visibility of the new program.

So, I will be walking in the Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday, April 2. Apparently, many of the walking participants are also drunk, but I don't think that I will get to do that while wearing a World Vision T-shirt. It should be fun, though.

I want to ask you to consider three things:

1. Please consider sponsoring my participation. My goal is $1,000 so $25, $50 or $100 would make a sizable dent in that goal. Of course, if this opportunity to help kids causes you to want to give more, please go ahead and do so. The best way to sponsor me is to go to my secure website.

2. Please consider walking with me on my team or running in the 8K version of the race. Although registration for the race is closed, they are extending the deadline especially for Team World Vision participants. We have until this Friday to get in hard copy registration forms, so let me know as soon as possible if you want to do this. The website for the Shamrock Shuffle is, strangely enough, www.shamrockshuffle.com. I hear the after-party is pretty cool.

3. Please consider sending a link to anyone you think might be interested in the mission of World Vision, either by sponsoring me, participating in the Shamrock Shuffle or participating in future races. I certainly don't understand what it is about running that appeals to runners and triathletes, but I know they are out there and I guess that they, too, should get a chance to do this good work. :-)

Thanks for thinking about it.