6/19/07 - update - 155 started the race and 94 (61%) finished it - I finished in 77th place!  My #1 goal was to finish it, my stretch goal was to run it between 28 and 29 hours which I also managed - 28:38:07 which is 17:10 / mile or 3.5 mph.

And the $6,645 you've helped me raise so far for Second Harvest is about $109,200 (retail) of food they can acquire & distribute to the hungry in northwest PA !!!!   THANK YOU !!!

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6/4/07 - NEW GOAL - $ 6,000 !!  Thanks to everyone's support and GE Foundation's matching funds, the $5,000 goal came and went in just a few days !!  I'm now hoping you can push me to $6,000 for Second Harvest !!!  YOU ARE ALL THE BEST !!!!

   Note:  we hit the $6K goal on Sunday 6/10 - I hope we blast past it !!!

5/29/07 - NEW GOAL - $ 5,000 !!  This is my second increase of my fundraising goal which was $2,500 originally and then upped to $3,500.  Due to everyone's generosity and GE Foundation's matching funds for $25 (or more) donations, I'm increasing it again to $5,000.  Thank you all for your support !!!!

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Hi, my name is Tom Jennings and I live in Erie, PA.  I am running a 100 mile trail race (called a trail ultra-marathon) on June 16th - 17th at Mohican State Park between Cleveland and Columbus, OH.  The race is called the Mohican 100 Mile Trail Run.  You know it is a looooooooong race when it lasts two days!  I have never run a 100 mile trail race before (50 miles is my longest trail race to date), but I am going to give it my all - and I'm hoping you will too by contributing just 25 cents per mile for my fundraising efforts for Erie's food bank:

     Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA    25th Anniversary!

The Second Harvest Food Bank is a 501c(3) non-profit organization. Donations to the Food Bank are eligible to be tax deductible. (A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the PA Dept. of State by calling toll free within PA 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement.). 

Now that we have the legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way, what's really important to know is that each

$ 1 donated = $ 17 (retail) of food the Food Bank can distribute for the needy !

So if you donated just 25 cents per mile you would enable the Food Bank to distribute $ 425 (retail ) of food!  But please feel free to donate whatever amount you like - every little bit helps a hungry family.

GE employees - DOUBLE your $25 donation!  Click on the "this gift will be matched" checkbox and enter GE in the company name if you are donating at least $25.  Then click here and submit your donation to GE Foundation's Matching Gifts program!  Enter Second Harvest in the keyword search field and PA in the state field - two valid results are displayed - I selected the top one. If you let me know you did the gift matching, I'll update the 'offline' total below. 

You could donate through the food bank's "Network For Good" website but it would not get rolled up to my fundraiser.  So please, dig deep and donate to this great cause. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure.  It is also the most efficient way to donate.

DONATE NOW BEFORE THE RACE and start receiving my Run100forCharity.info email newsletter over the next 3 months leading up to the race... you will be training with me!

For those who aren't comfortable donating online, please make your check payable to Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA and mail it to the following address (be sure to include your email address if you would like to receive my training newsletter):

     Tom Jennings

     P.O. Box 8932

     Erie, PA  16505

I will accumulate these 'offline' donations, send the checks to the food bank, and update the offline amount below so you can see your check contributions grow along with the online donations.

Many thanks for your support... and helping me "Run Hunger Out Of Erie - Together!"   Hey, I couldn't resist using my slogan again... I've never had a slogan before.  :-)

-- Tom --

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Bio

Age: 49

Married for 26+ years, two wonderful daughters, ages 18 and 24

Home turf:  Asbury Woods, Erie PA and Oil Creek State Park, Titusville, PA

Founder of Run100forCharity.info - "ordinary people going to the extreme for charity"

Started running in July 2004 to lose weight and increase fitness for chronic lower back problems - lost 30 pounds in 8 months.  When I first began running I would run 100 to 200 yards and then walk.  Run / walk / run / walk.

Hobbies:   watching movies, home theater, myspace, bicycling, listening to music, spending time with friends and family, watching football (high school, college, pro)

5K PR - 21:42 = 7:00 / mile - 4/29/2006

10K PR - 47:45 = 7:42 / mile - 11/23/2006

Half marathon PR - 1:46:06 = 8:06 / mile - 4/2/2006

50K trail PR - 6:11:20 = 11:59 / mile - 9/9/2006

50 mile trail PR - 10:38:24 = 12:46 / mile - 3/10/2007

100 mile trail PR - 28:38:07 = 17:10 / mile  - 6/16 - 6/17/2007 !!!

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FAQ's

1) What is an ultra-marathon?  Any race longer than a marathon (26.2 miles) - typically 50K (31 miles), 50 miles, 100K (62 miles), 100 miles... or longer!  Unlike shorter races like 5K's, 10K's, and even marathons, ultras are less about what time and place you finish the race and more about just FINISHING.  For example, 130 runners started the Mohican 100 last year, but the low 90's temperature and high humidity contributed to only 51 (39%) completing the full 100 miles.

2) What is different about a TRAIL ultra?  Trail ultras typically are up and down hills and through streams.  Some hills are extreme - 45 to 60 degrees.  Sometimes the stream IS the trail!  Unlike road racing, you need to pay attention to nearly every single footfall so you don't injure yourself on a rock or root.

3) What makes a trail ultra difficult?   1) Sheer fatigue from the pounding the legs take going up and down hills.  2) Foot problems, especially from running through streams... you've seen how white and wrinkly your feet get after being in water for a long time?   The technical term is your foot has become 'macerated' which makes the skin much more susceptible to blisters and tearing... so keeping dry socks & shoes on your feet is key in trail ultra racing.  I currently have 5 pairs of shoes planned for the Mohican 100 - 4 trail pairs and one road pair.  3) The rocks and roots that seem to jump out of nowhere to roll your ankle, smash your toe, or make you fall at the instant you take your attention off of the trail !  4) Weather - heat / humidity and heavy rains can make it very difficult to navigate the trails.

4) Where I can find out more about the Mohican 100 Mile Trail Run?   Here !!  Its a great summer vacation location.

5) What is Run100forCharity.info ?     While investigating how to create a my personal fundraising site for the Erie Food Bank, I discovered there was no way to 'get the word out' via a simple to remember website.  So I created my own site.  Run100forCharity.info will list ordinary folks like myself that are doing extreme events for charity.  For example, David Houston is honoring his father by running 50 miles for I.P.F. - Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis - a lung disorder which has stricken his father.  Scott Giddings is going to run across NEBRASKA (!) to raise funds for his Girls and Boys Town cause. 

6) How did you come up with the fundraiser idea to go along with the 100 mile run?   My niece Jennifer suggested I run these ultras for a 'greater cause' and I was inspired by my friend Dane (see fiddy2.org) who ran a marathon each week in 2006 to raise funds for L'Arche-Mobile, an international federation of communities in which people with a mental handicap and those who help them can live, work, and share their lives together. 

7) Why Second Harvest Food Bank of NW PA?   I volunteered there and was really impressed with how efficient the operation is - plus I can't think of another charity that gets as much 'bang for the buck!'  $17 worth of food for each $1 donated - that's much more impressive than me running 100 for them!