When I ran the Rock and Roll Marathon in 2007, I ran it for no apparent reason. I was searching for a grand epiphany and, for some reason, I thought that after running 26.2 miles, it would come to me. It never did. I actually finished the marathon and felt somewhat empty. The main reason? I had a tremendous platform to try and raise money for a good cause and I didn't do it. It actually bummed me out and I felt like I had just wasted 18 weeks of training and countless miles searching for meaning that was never going to be there to begin with. I vowed that day that if I ever did a run again, I would make it worthwhile. After not being able to walk for days, I also vowed that I would never do a marathon again. Then, an interesting thing happened. 

A few months ago, Athletes First gave each employee some charity money and a challenge. We were instructed to take the money and do something good for someone or use the money to try and create more money for a cause (http://ryannece.com/pog/). While contemplating how I was going to make this money grow, I received an e-mail from a friend asking me to run the LA Marathon with him. The perfect storm was created. Now I'm running the LA Marathon on March 21, 2010 for a reason...

Although I've never had a personal battle with cancer, many people around me have. Over the last couple years, I have seen how cancer has effected the lives of such amazing people like the Puckett family, Todd and Ashley, Frank, Spencer, Anetra and many others that are near and dear to my life. I am dedicating this run and the money raised from it to them. I have selected the John Wayne Cancer Institute as the beneficiary for my run. The John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John’s Health Center is a cancer research institute dedicated to the understanding and curing of cancer in order to eliminate patient suffering worldwide. My hope is that through this contribution I can also help raise awareness for this amazing facility and the amazing things that they are doing.

This run is more about paying it forward then it is about me running 26.2 miles. Cancer statistics are crazy and for me to think that myself or my family can go through life without having to face it dead on would be unrealistic. It's that prevalent. It's that scary. As such, I'm hopeful that this contribution, however big or small, makes some difference in the battle against cancer. I truly do appreciate any and all donations and thank you for your support.

AND AN EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE TWITTER NATION THAT HAVE BEEN SO KIND AND GRACIOUS IN YOUR SUPPORT OF THIS RUN. YOU HAVE BROUGHT GREATER MEANING TO THE POWER OF GIVING AND IT AMAZES ME THAT COMPLETE STRANGERS COULD BE SO THOUGHTFUL. THANK YOU!