In January 2021, after countless years of advising me to get my act together, my doctor delivered the sobering news that I was officially a Type II Diabetic. Weighing in at almost 300 pounds, I skirted the line between prediabetic and full-blown diabetes for years. Despite my physician's best efforts to warn me, I did little (translation: nothing) to change course over that time, and my inaction all but guaranteed the outcome.

So, first, I wondered how I let it get that bad.  Don't we all when faced with adversity of our own making? Second, after taking a long and unflinching look in the mirror, I chose to attack this head on and finally commit to lifestyle changes that I'd avoided for so long due to a fear of failure.  The thought had always lingered, "What if I simply wasn't strong enough to make such drastic changes?"

Fast forward to November 6, 2022.  Now 80 pounds lighter, I found myself getting up at the ungodly hour of 4AM PST to run the 2022 Malibu 1/2 Marathon alongside a very dear friend. It was my very first race and my goal was to finish in 02:36:00.  That equates to an approximate average time of 5 MPH for 13.1 miles. 

I crossed the finish line with 22 seconds to spare.

In crossing that finish line I found the ultimate accountability measure. If I meant to keep the weight off - to live a lifestyle that ensured a healthy me for decades to come - this was my new barometer and it needed to be checked on a regular basis.  As an accomplished runner told me in Malibu after hearing it was my very first race, "If I learned one thing in all my years running it's that there are no miracles on race day."  Amen, brother. You get out exactly what you put in. If only all of life could be so equitable...

I am humbly asking that you support my second run. My new goal is 02:20:00 (or under) and I'm training hard to make that time a reality come race day. If my training times are any indication it is going to be close. The organization I'm supporting, the K9 Youth Alliance, does wonderful work with at-risk youth.

Thank you in advance for your generosity.  I will be running for all of us!

Jason