Run For The Rabbit

A few months ago, I was playing on Facebook (shocking) and came across a post from JackRabbit Sports, which is my favorite running store in NYC. It’s also where I bought my first pair of running shoes three years ago!

The post said JackRabbit was looking for people for its new “Run For The Rabbit” marketing campaign: “We want aspiring marathoners who want to train for the Hamptons Marathon while raising money for a charity that’s important to them.”

They had me at “aspiring marathoners.”

Then they had me at “Hamptons.” (What? I’ve never been!)

Then JackRabbit really sold me with the charity part.

So I filled out an application, explaining why I wanted to be a part of the program. Running became a huge part of my life a few years ago when I ditched my dance shoes and decided to train for a half marathon. I was immediately hooked, but I was always apprehensive about going for the full 26.2 miles. But over the past few months, running a marathon has been all I can think about. I’ve by no means mastered the half marathon, but I’m ready for a new running challenge.

In my application, I told JackRabbit about the charity I would raise money for, should I be chosen: the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America.

As you may know, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease when I was 7 years old, and my brother was diagnosed a few years later. We’ve both lived our entire lives with this autoimmune disorder, and we each go to the hospital every eight weeks to receive an IV infusion of Remicade, a drug that keeps the disease more or less at bay. Some days the disease doesn’t bother me at all. Other days just leaving my apartment proves to be a challenge.

I put my whole heart into that application, but a few weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything from JackRabbit.

As it turns out, nearly 350 New Yorkers applied for the program—and I made it through the first cut. I was brought in for a screen test, which meant I sat in front of a camera and gushed about my love for running and my passion for finding a cure for Crohn’s Disease. Every single day I’m bothered by the fact that there are 1.4 million Americans with Crohn’s and colitis, yet there’s no cure for these diseases.

The team at JackRabbit saw something they liked, and after a lot of paperwork and email chains, I’m proud to announce that I’m one of the six runners representing JackRabbit at the Hamptons Marathon on September 24.

So what does that mean?

Well, it means I need to run a marathon. So that should be fun…

For the next four months, I’ll be training for the Hamptons Marathon with Jonathan Cane, an awesome running coach provided to me by JackRabbit.

I’m not worried about running the marathon—I know I can cross that finish line with a smile.

But I’m simultaneously raising money for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America. This is where your help comes in.

Run For The Rabbit is a competition: there are six finalists, each with different running backgrounds and different charities of choice.

The competition isn’t about who runs the race the fastest (good thing) — it’s about who raises the most money. I am competitive, and I want to win. There are a variety of prizes for the winner, including a vacation, which I would love! Whether you’re able to contribute $25 or $250, it all helps and it all goes toward helping CCFA and its team of smarty scientists find a cure for these diseases.

Click here to check out the Run For The Rabbit website. My personal page has a video giving a little background, plus I’ll be blogging, Tweeting and Facebooking with updates about my training and progress.

All donations are tax deductible and can be done easily through the Run For The Rabbit website.

Thank you so much for reading my story and for your support. I’m so excited to be a part of this process and am looking forward to sharing my journey over the coming months.

See you at the finish line!