Boston, the World Series of Marathons... Doug Flutie Foundation, the Wild Card of Autism Organizations

I know it might be getting tiresome, but I am fundraising for autism again. :-) I have been given an opportunity that I cannot pass up. I've been given the chance to run in the Grand Daddy of all marathons, the Boston Marathon (more on that later) for one of the best oldest locally focused Autism charities around, The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism. If you want to cut to the chase, please donate on this page whatever you can, but if you want to learn more about the charity AND the mystique of the Boston Marathon keep reading...

As some of you may know, Doug Flutie Sr. was a college & NFL Quarterback that defied the odds and became a star despite his smaller size. His wife gave birth to their first son in 1991. Up until the age of 2 1/2 Doug Jr. seemed to be developing normally and spoke in almost full sentences. Then the Fluties noticed a gradual change in Dougie; he seemed to be regressing. He went from speaking in sentences to phrases, then to single words. Eventually he lost all speech. At the age of three he was diagnosed with autism. Since then the Fluties have been on a mission of awareness and fundraising. They started the Flutie Foundation in 1998 and Doug Sr was one of the first "celebrities" to come forward and step up for the autism community.


As many of you know, I've done extensive fundraising for Autism Speaks in the past. My 6 year old son Jake has severe autism and we have been raising awareness and money for Autism Speaks with your help since 2005. However, the missions of The Flutie Foundation differs from Autism Speaks and Flutie Foundation needs our help even more and their mission is even closer to my heart. Autism Speaks funds alot of research into the causes of autism which is important and will hopefully help thousands of families in the future. The Flutie Foundation's mission is to help support families right now who are affected by Autism. They provide individuals with autism and their families an opportunity to improve their quality of life by funding educational, therapeutic, recreational and advocacy programs. They do this by administering grants to other autism organizations and they do this on a local level. Since Doug Sr was born and raised in MA and played for Boston College, the Flutie Foundation has a North East focus. They give the majority of their grants to deserving autism organizations in New England, NY, and NJ. To learn more about the Flutie Foundation please go to http://www.flutiefoundation.org/


As many of you know, I like to run full 26.2 mile marathons. Not fast AT ALL :-), but I get them done... 12 and counting... But what's so special about the Boston Marathon? The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual 26.2 mile marathon. It began in 1897. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon or http://www.bostonmarathon.org/) It is also the hardest marathon to get in to. You can get in two ways, both very difficult. You can "qualify" for it which means that you run another 26.2 mile marathon within 18 months of the Boston race, but you have to run that other marathon in under a certain time based on your age. I will be 40 in 2010. So to "qualify" for Boston I'd have to run another marathon in under 3hrs 20mins!! That is a full 1hr 10mins faster that I've ever run a marathon! My PR (personal record) is 4hrs 30mins. And I've resigned myself to the fact that with a son with severe autism at home, I'll never have the time to put in the proper training and commitment to qualify for Boston. And I'm totally ok with that. :-)

The second way to get an entry into the Boston Marathon is to fight for the 1,250 slots that go to charities. If you run for a charity, you don't need to "qualify" But those slots go extremely quickly. I've heard stories of people that had to "apply" to 3-4 charities and even pay a fee to "apply" just to get one of the coveted marathon slots. And I had resigned myself that if I ever did run Boston it would need to be for an Autism charity.

Earlier this week, thanks to a Facebook friend, I heard that the Flutie Foundation got late word from the folks at the Boston Marathon that they would be getting 13 marathon slots for the 2010 Boston Marathon. So I jumped at the chance and was told there was a slot available for me!! However, it requires a $3000 fundraising commitment. I was really on the fence on whether I should do it because i feel like I've already hit up all of you, my family, friends, coworkers for donations related to Autism Speaks and the NYC Marathon last month. But the more I thought about it and talked to some running friends about how hard it is to get even a charity slot... the more I realized that I have been given a gift.... the opportunity to run my 13th full 26.2 mile marathon in Boston (the World Series of marathons) for an autism charity that is doing important work that helps us now. And that gift was just too good to pass up.

So as a 40th birthday present to myself (I turn 40 in March :-) I will be running the Boston Marathon on April 19, 2010 for The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation for Autism as a member of "Dougie's Team", and as usual, I need your help. I need to raise $3000 in 4 months so ANYTHING that you can give would be greatly appreciated. $1, $5, $10, $25... no donation is too small or too big. You can donate online on this page or you can mail me a check made out to The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation.

I thank you for reading this and I thank you for your donations and support. I will try not to be too annoying with my fundraising efforts.

Thanks,

Frank