The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal with a top speed of 70 m.p.h. There's not much guessing as to who would win if he raced a human. Speculation quickly turned to fact and I mean quickly, like less than 10 seconds, when a race was held in Africa recently.
Bryan Habana, a 23-year old South African rugby player, who can run the 100 meter dash in 11 seconds, raced against the cheetah in a well-supervised event to raise awareness about the declining population of cheetahs. What a marvelous publicity stunt for a worthy cause. Hardly a century ago, their numbers ranged in the 100,000s. That number has drastically declined with estimates of 8-10,000 in the wild now. Without intervention through the aids of education and funding, the swift, quadruped will soon be one more sad addition to the world's endangered species list.
There are millions of stories like this. And when I say like this, I am referring to situations where there is a need for money to stop something terrible from happening. I am running for one such cause. I am running for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's easy to become accustomed to the tools and medicines of the 21st century and then to forget that people still die everyday from diseases that have no cures. I run to raise funds to fight this particular blood cancer. I run to raise awareness. I know I am doing something positive when I see the money coming in. I am so grateful for the large donations that I have been blessed to receive. I am even more thankful for the $25 donations that come from young people like myself who live paycheck to paycheck. It's really hard to decide how to spend the "extra" $25 we might have in a random week. It's tough to part with our money when we have student loans, credit card debt, unpaid car notes. I know this. I am really touched when people give to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society because I asked. That's really special. This is what I will think about tomorrow morning when I set out for the first ten mile run in my life. I will think that I can make a difference. That one individual does matter. That the pain I feel in my lungs or my hamstrings is nothing compared to the pain that some people have to live with every day.
(I have less than $300 left to raise. Please help me reach that goal by clicking on this link and donating.)
1 comment:
The earth is warming up for a Michigan spring even if the start of the season is a bit schizophrenic out of the gate. See with new eyes the wakening world as you prepare for the Memorial Day course. Fly like a robin without a care. Fly.
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