Thank you for visiting my fundraising page!! 

On January 13, 2008, I will be running in the 5th Annual P.F. Chang's Rock-n-Roll Half-Marathon in Phoenix, AZ; participating with the "Miracles in Motion" team sponsored by Phoenix Children's Hospital. I am assisting with fundraising efforts to raise money for PCH. Donations go towards patient care for families who cannot afford medical care. My long-time friend, Dixie Love, works at PCH and introduced me to this wonderful organization a couple of years ago.  I participated in 2005 and 2006 as well, and had a wonderful time raising money for a great charity, meeting new friends, and running in tune to several rockin' bands along the 13.1 mile course.

I am running in honor of Rhiannon Santiago.  Rhiannon became a patient at PCH when she was 13 years old.  She had frequent Urinary Tract Infections since she was a baby, but her doctors in New York couldn't figure out why.  She moved to Arizona with her father in 1997.  Her new doctor at PCH took a picture of her kidneys and discovered that her kidney function was going down and that she was experiencing high blood pressure.  Her urologist in NY never thought to take a picture of her kidneys.  If it weren't for PCH finding these problems, Rhiannon claims she probably wouldn't be here today.   Rhiannon is now 23 and is on Hemodialysis three days a week to treat end stage renal disease.  She is so grateful to all of the staff at PCH for being there and for having such a big heart. 

I am well-prepared for this endeavor.  I recently ran in the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon on 10/14, which was my 15th half-marathon.   I have been running approximately 30-35 miles per week.  My goal is to run a sub 2 hour half-marathon in Phoenix.  However I will be happy with anything under a 2:10, considering how much I indulged over the Holidays.  :-)  Beyond that, I am tentatively planning on tackling another full marathon sometime in 2008.  The support and generosity of so many friends, family, and colleagues has been a big inspiration for me.

I raised almost $4000 for the kids at PCH in 2005 and 2006.  My goal was to raise at least $2000 or more for the Rhiannon and the kids at PCH for this year's race.   Thanks to so many supporters, I reached this goal in October.  Let's not stop here.  Donating through this site is simple, fast, and secure.  And of course, it's tax-deductible.  I would greatly appreciate everybody's continued support and/or generosity.   I will do the running! :-)

If you would like to issue a check for your donation, you can send it to the below address. Please reference my name in the MEMO section, so that I receive credit towards my fund-raising goals. Checks can be made payable to:

Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation

Attn: Melissa Farley 

2929 E. Camelback Road – Suite 122

Phoenix, AZ  85016-4425 

Thank you very much for taking the time to visit my page. Please forward this to anyone else you think might be interested in making a donation too! Your support and generosity are much appreciated!

Best wishes,

Christopher Nichols