Why?
It has been asked, "why do you run so many marathons despite nagging little injuries?" Well running is a great way to clear my head. In a spiritual sense, you feel a sense of connection with God. But the main reason why I do it so often is that I'm trying to combine my passion for running with charity work. I like to raise money for charities. I first started with Team in Training... yes, those purple people running all over the place at the marathon. Then I spent most of 2009 promoting WorldVision in their quest to bring clean drinking water to the people of Africa. At the suggestion from a good friend of mine, I recently have taken a more personal approach to the fund-raising aspect of my marathon running. As a brother to someone that's autistic, it really sucks to be affected by autism. He's got the body of a 33 year old, but has a mental age of about 5. I'd like to support organizations that are helping to find a cure or improve the quality of life for someone with autism. Autism not only affects the person with it but the rest of the family as well. I've sacrificed most of my own dreams and life's ambitions to help my parents out in taking care of him. Actually it's helping out my mom. In the Asian culture, the father typically has a hands-off approach to raising children. It is the duty belonging to the mother. I still live with them, but there are times when I just want to move out. When you're always there and always dependable, it is inevitable that people start taking you for granted. That's just human nature.
When Life Throws You Lemons
My friend Sam, the father of an autistic child, is running 60 marathons this year to raise awareness for Train4Autism. Here's his website: Operation Jack. This year, I'm running most of my marathons in support of Operation Jack. If Sam is running in the marathon that I'm in then I'll be wearing my Operation Jack or Train4Autism shirt. If you're looking to support a great cause, please consider Operation Jack.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your connection to Train 4 Autism and Operation Jack! Major props to you for being a wonderful son and brother.
My oldest son has Aspbergers Syndrome. We were late in realizing this since he is very high functioning but not understanding what makes him tick contributed to a very dysfunctional childhood for him. He is still reaping the consequences. I didn't know that about your brother but I understand your life better. Please let me know when you are doing something that is raising funds for Autism because I would like to contribute whatever small amount I am able to.
This is Linda because I think my comment is going to come up under a different name.
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