Thank you very much to all of you who supported me as I participated in my first marathon last November in Florence.  It was an amazing experience, and I could not have done it without your support.  Well, I'm ready to do it again: run another marathon!

That's right, I will be participating in the Amsterdam Marathon on October 19 … running 26.2 miles.

I am once again training and will be running a little farther each week as I prepare for Amsterdam.  In total, I expect to log nearly 500 miles during training. Running a marathon is an amazing experience, and since, well, I'm a writer, I will be keeping this Journal (last updated October 22nd) to keep you updated on my training progress.  It's all part of the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, which raises money for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago to fund direct medical care, food, housing, and other vital AIDS services — to help keep people with HIV/AIDS alive until there's a cure.

This is why I am committed to raise at least $9,999 (and hopefully more) … and I'm asking for your support.

I would be so grateful for any donation you can make to help me meet this goal. It's so easy to make a donation (so no excuses!). It only takes a few moments to make a contribution.  Donations are tax deductible, and all contributions benefit The AIDS Foundation of Chicago, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Together, we can take pride in improving the lives of those less fortunate. 

As you can probably imagine, this is an extremely physically-challenging task, but I am confident that, with your support, I can make it to the finish line.

Thank you so much for supporting me in this huge undertaking. When I cross that Start (and also the Finish) Line in October, I'll know that you helped and motivated me.

Thanks,
Ross Forman.