El Gaffney

Wrap That Run Up

No more NYC Marathon posts after this one. I promise. Unless I run it again in the future, of course. But I meant to share my final email in order to give a public shout-out to all my donors. Here’s what I sent:

A little over 4 and a half months ago, I started training to run the NYC Marathon for MS. A little over three months ago, I sent my first email asking for donations with two (connected) goals:

Raise $3,450 and Run the race in under 3 hours and 45 minutes.

I’m beyond happy to report that we beat both these goals. You helped me reach a total of $5,242.20 and a time of 3 hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds. That’s almost $2K more and 20 minutes less than I had hoped for! (Just wanted to give you all a chance to pat yourselves on the back, and give me a chance to show off my “3 on the AP Test” math skills :))

Thank you so much to:
Vince and Ila Gaffney, Megan Gaffney, Larry and Linda Fields, Craig Addeo, Carolena Deutsch-Garcia, Hara and Michael Cohen, Steve and Patti Cohen, Howie and Cathy Stein, Phyllis and Jarrett Pikser, Patricia Marchese, Kerri Holt, Jeff Stein, Lauren Cochran, Eric Rattner, Adrian Ho, Brean Cunningham, Jeffrey Greenblatt, Laith Kalamchi, Michael Rubinfeld, Jess April, Stephanie Redlener, Andrew Tchabovsky, Hara and Michael Cohen, Matt O’Laughlin, Robert Nelson, Lisa Michel, Kirsten Shiroma, Eric Friedman, Kim Nguyen, Jeff Friedman, Jason Brupbacher, Steven Krammer, Sherri and Jeff Feinman, Ron and Diane Kaufman, Matthew Jung, Mark DiMassimo, Paul Garvey, Zach Lev, Eric Mishlove, Tom Theys, Erica, Dave and Noah Ellenbogen, Barry Blyn, Jen Giroux, Eve Silverman, Jason Oke, Pete Brown, Justin Eshak, Michael Katz, Matthew Johnson, Steven Fields, Leah Zamkow, Donna and Ed Mishlove, Tori Greene, Marie Shadi, Lee Goldstein, Chad Blakenship, Kamila Prokop, Genna McKeel, David Buxton, Slyvan Garfunkel, Arthur Marino, Aki Spicer, Noah Brier, Evan Schepps, Sarah Saline, Sean Cox, Toby Daniels, Jonathan Stein, John Dooley, Jonathan Marshall, Ian Young, Christina Verdeschi, Annemarie Cullen, Einat Korman, Aaron Perlstein, Gary Van Dzura, Alex Sagol, Rich Weinstein, Sarah Park, Jonathan Eshak, Brian Flax, Jessica Rowlands, Annie O’Rourke, James Hochleutner, Mara Kelly, Alain Sylvain, Adrian Heney, Michael Page, Virginia Scoza, Irene Binder, and Brian Morris.

So how did it go? Well, I woke up at 5AM to go the ferry. I got on the ferry to Staten Island. I started in Staten Island and crossed the Verrazano Bridge. I crossed the Verrazano Bridge to swallow the fly. I don’t know why…Okay, I’ll stop. But suffice to say, I had a great day physically, mentally, and emotionally. The conditions were fantastic that Sunday, though a bit chilly causing me—as you’ll see in pictures—to rock gloves for the full 26.2 miles. I got to see a handful of you lining the course, including my family, which provided that extra burst of energy and motivation to keep going. And for the majority of those miles I ran with a couple of new friends from the Run MS team, Fred and Andrew. These guys kept me inspired, entertained, and honest. I had a tendency in training runs to get a little too speedy for my own good, and as you can see here my pace was pretty consistent for the entire race at 7:49.

I don’t have any glamour shots by Deb or anyone else, but I did take some screen grabs of some photos taken by the hired pros on November 2nd. (Don’t underestimate my sneakiness, Brightroom.) I put them into a little video for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy:

UPDATE: I received quite a few emails asking how long it took me to put that together. The answer: Less than 20 minutes - the bulk of which was spent taking screen grabs of my race pictures. I used Animoto, a free service that allows you to make a customized slide show video (with your own uploaded images and music). It also enables you to import the video into YouTube straight from their site. Check it out.

Tags: marathon, nyc, running, videos

A Final Push for MS

The NYC Marathon is fast approaching. November 2nd is right around the corner. That makes it less than 12 days away. Some would say, this is the final countdown—well, if they wanted to link to this video, they would—until I finally run 26.2 miles for the NY Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. So I’ve made my last request for donations over email to family and friends. And I’ve copied it here in case it can convince even one reader to help the great cause of finding a cure for MS.

How am I doing? Thanks for asking. In short, great. In long, I’ve experienced some minor aches and pains and grosser stuff I won’t put in this email but week-to-week have been solid. Last weekend I completed my longest run of 20 miles and have been “tapering” since (starting to run less and rest more to let one’s body recover/get stronger for the race). This past Saturday I did 14, have 8 next weekend and then comes the big 26.2.

From when I began training to now, I’ve run an estimated—with the help of Nike+, which I use to track most runs—500 miles. From when I began training to now, I’ve met some incredible people also running for MS and made some good friends…2 with whom I’ll likely be running the marathon. (That is, if we can coordinate and find each other amongst the other 39,000 runners.) From when I began training to now, I’ve been both motivated and extremely touched by the support you’ve given me and this great cause.

When I began training with the Run MS team, I started with a goal of raising $3,450. Now, thanks to you, I have just surpassed $4,000. And I’m making a push for a nice, round $5000. So if you’d still like to donate (or pass on to someone who may like to donate):

Click here

Thank you’s go out to:

Vince and Ila Gaffney, Megan Gaffney, Larry and Linda Fields, Craig Addeo, Carolena Deutsch-Garcia, Hara and Michael Cohen, Steve and Patti Cohen, Howie and Cathy Stein, Phyllis and Jarrett Pikser, Patricia Marchese, Kerri Holt, Jeff Stein, Lauren Cochran, Eric Rattner, Adrian Ho, Brean Cunningham, Jeffrey Greenblatt, Laith Kalamchi, Michael Rubinfeld, Jess April, Stephanie Redlener, Andrew Tchabovsky, Hara and Michael Cohen, Matt O’Laughlin, Robert Nelson, Lisa Michel, Kirsten Shiroma, Eric Friedman, Kim Nguyen, Jeff Friedman, Jason Brupbacher, Steven Krammer, Sherri and Jeff Feinman, Ron and Diane Kaufman, Matthew Jung, Mark DiMassimo, Paul Garvey, Zach Lev, Eric Mishlove, Tom Theys, Erica, Dave and Noah Ellenbogen, Barry Blyn, Jen Giroux, Eve Silverman, Jason Oke, Pete Brown, Justin Eshak, Michael Katz, Matthew Johnson, Steven Fields, Leah Zamkow, Donna and Ed Mishlove, Tori Greene, Marie Shadi, Lee Goldstein, Chad Blakenship, Kamila Prokop, Genna McKeel, David Buxton, Slyvan Garfunkel, Arthur Marino, Aki Spicer, Noah Brier, Evan Schepps, Sarah Saline, Sean Cox, Toby Daniels.

Update: Since sending the email early this morning, I’ve reached $4,551. Thanks to Adrian Heney, Alain Sylvain, Annie O’Rourke, James Hochleutner, and Mara Kelly.

Tags: charity, ms, running

Obama Baton: We’re Just Faster

It’s hard for big companies (and agencies) to compete with the speed of inspired individuals.

While the examples are certainly focused on politically-motivated people, I think the same is pretty much true for most organizations. It’s hard to be nimble. It’s scary to launch and learn. It takes a lot of constant monitoring and hands on responding.

This week has been a solid one for Obama Baton. Just over two weeks since the original idea was had, we’re building momentum and an audience of supporters, many of whom are following on Twitter and joined our Facebook groups for New York and Chicago. We’ve also received some really nice shout-outs.

Yet, when it comes to the spreading of an idea, we can’t even compare to “That One”. Within a day of the second Presidential debate—when McCain referred to Senator Obama using the term in quotes—this site was live and selling “That One” gear. They recognized the meme immediately when they heard it, and now their Facebook page already has over 21,000 fans.

My final example (not to be confused with the final countdown - via @lilmissjen) of a person compelled to create by Barack has got to be Mike Cuffe with The Obama Experiment - via @darrylohrt. And though it may have taken longer than the above creations from idea to execution, he has promoted his work with a video of art speed painting.

Lastly, I want to wish good luck to Kevin, who will be running the Chicago Marathon this Sunday with Obama Baton. Thanks everyone for your support. Please continue to pass it on.

Tags: friends, marathon, obama, obamabaton, running, viral

Obama Baton Dot Com

Big news in the life of our idea: The Obama Baton site is live.

Clay + Kevin + the rest of the Hustlewood team have been working their butts off, Giorgio (can’t resist the Zoolander reference) and have managed to get a site up and running (can’t resist the pun) in less than ten days. We’re still revising it and will likely continue to do so over the next week (if not more) as we learn what’s working and discover opportunities to enhance the experience. What that means is making the idea and call to action more clear and compelling, the blog portion more interesting and useful, and the pieces (Twitter, Flickr, Facebook NYC & CHI, etc.) work more seamlessly and effectively together.

As I said in my last post, we’re trying to be as transparent and inclusive in building this idea (and we hope, movement) as possible. We’re using our blogs and now the blog on obamabaton.com to do so. (Please comment over there with any Obama Baton-specific thoughts you have.) And we’re learning quite a bit along the way. But we’ve still got a long way to go—a couple of marathons at least—before Barack wins on November 4th. So please visit the site, show your support, and Pass It On.

Tags: obama, obamabaton, running, web2.0

Marathon Update

Two months and one day left until I Run the NYC Marathon to Stop MS.

Perfect time for an update. Well, to be honest, tomorrow would probably be the perfect time given it will be exactly two months. But since I can’t guarantee there will be time write this post tomorrow, I’ll say today is the perfect time to write and tomorrow is the perfect time to read it. I’m glad we were able to compromise. Wait, but then I wonder if I should change that first line to address the many readers (double digits at least), who have better things to do than read this on Labor Day. At least those New Yorkers, who have been blessed with a beautiful one for tanning and barbecuing. (Okay, “blessed” is a bit much). And especially those people, who’ll be headed back to an office with a desk in it with a computer on it that they’ll be sitting in front of all day tomorrow. Or is it today? Tuesday? You there? Here?

Exhausted yet? Confused perhaps? I promise there’s a complete sentence. In the future. The update:

Since I (officially) started training on July 15th, I have run approximately 130 miles. That includes everything from my first 4 miles with the Run MS crew on that Tuesday night to yesterday’s 10K (6.2 mile) Nike+ Human Race, a global race which I ran solo on the West Side Highway and in which I’m currently placed 2936th (out of how many I’m still unsure). My longest distance has been a little over a half marathon, so I’m going to have to step up the mileage in September in order to have a nice taper toward mid October. That means stopping drinking and wearing white pants. (I don’t know which will be more difficult!)

In addition to training, I’ve raised $3,345 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—only $105 short of reaching my total goal. And with 2 months left, while I’m hesitant to explain why I chose $3,450 as my initial target (fine, it was because I’m aiming to finish the marathon in under 3 hours and 45 minutes), I’m less hesitant to shoot for a new fundraising goal of a nice even $4,000.

That’s right. Four large. (I think that’s what large stands for but if not, just refer back to the four thousand dollar figure.) Before running at that goal, I want to thank all the people who have helped me to (just about) reach my (old) donation pledge:

Jess April, Stephanie Redlener, Andrew Tchabovsky, Hara and Michael Cohen, Matt O’Laughlin, Robert Nelson, Lisa Michel, Kirsten Shiroma, Eric Friedman, Kim Nguyen, Jeff Friedman, Jason Brupbacher, Steven Krammer, Sherri and Jeff Feinman, Matthew Jung, Mark DiMassimo, Vince and Ila Gaffney, Paul Garvey, Zach Lev, Eric Mishlove, Tom Theys, Larry and Linda Fields, Erica, Dave and Noah Ellenbogen, Barry Blyn, Jen Giroux, Eve Silverman, Jason Oke, Pete Brown, Justin Eshak, Ron and Diane Kaufman, Michael Katz, Matthew Johnson, Steven Fields, Leah Zamkow, Donna and Ed Mishlove, Tori Greene, Marie Shadi, Lee Goldstein, Chad Blakenship, Slyvan Garfunkel, Arthur Marino, Phyllis and Jarrett Pikser, Aki Spicer, Noah Brier, Evan Schepps, Sarah Saline, Sean Cox, Kamila Prokop, Genna McKeel, Steve and Patti Cohen, and David Buxton…so far :)

Once again, I really appreciate all of your support. It’s both touching and motivating. Almost as motivating as my new “Power Song” (which may or may not have been featured recently on The Hills - don’t judge):

For anyone else wanting to make a donation and see their name in the bright shining lights (read as: text) of this blog, you have plenty of time. Just click on this link to donate.

Thank you.

Tags: charity, marathon, ms, nike, nyc, running