We completed a marathon!!!!

On November 1st Abby & I participated in the Rails to Trails Marathon in Norwalk, WI (near Tomah). Admittedly, we did not properly train for the event following our May half-marathon and the injuries incurred at that time. So we did end up walking a good portion of the 26.2 miles but we completed it as promised ;) I had a time of 6 hours 46 minutes and Abby completed it in 6 hours 4 minutes.

The route itself was very beautiful and seeing the "real" runners in action was incredible. I started the trek an hour early since I had registered as a walker and the runners passed me at mile 6...completing in 30 minutes what had taken me an hour-and-a-half! The route was an "out & back" format, so these same speedy runners were passing me on the return at the 11 mile mark - man were they fast. The first place finisher completed it in 2 hours and 55 minutes (note that's less than half the time it took me). Wow!

The route also featured a 3/4 mile tunnel that was only lit by glow sticks & some camping lanterns...that was challenging & I was walking-no way I coulda run full-speed in the dark.

As you can see by the third picture, we did end up with some ailments. I counted 13 blisters on my feet/toes and the photo is of my left, big toe which is now black and the nail will be falling off :( Marathons are not good for the body! At least not this old, out-of-shape body :) On the positive side, I did not have any pain with my previously bruised/fractured leg.

Additionally, we made it more of a family event with other family members completing the Rails to Trails 5k (3.21 miles). Thanks to Cindy Cheney (Our Mom) and my children, Mariah & Katrina Strese and Carmen & Shane Crandall for being there to cheer us on.

Thank you to all of you who have supported us throughout the year with moral & monetary support!!!! We are currently awaiting responses from the Family Readiness Groups to see what events/activities they would like our raised funds to sponsor. As soon as we receive word from them we will share with you how your generous donations are being specifically used and hopefully the FRGs will be able to share photos with us. There are security restrictions so we can't guarantee we will be able to get these but we will definitely try.

God Bless you and your families during the upcoming holiday season and please remember to pray for all the soldiers & their families that will not be able to enjoy each others company during the holidays!

Love,

Kelly & Abby

We did it!!!!

We made our goal of raising $3,200.00 for the Red Arrow Brigade Soldiers!! Thank you so much to Cathy M., Harv & Elaine W, & Esther M. - all of whom noticed we were just shy of our goal and sent donations to give us that little boost we needed. Special thanks to everyone who has so generously donated to this great cause! You all ROCK!

Here's is a long overdue update of what is going on with Running for Red Arrows. First, I (Kelly) had an MRI & it turned out that I did not have a stress fracture but rather a couple of bone bruises. Honestly I'm not sure that diagnosis has been any more promising than a fracture as the bruises have been VERY slow to heal. I did get some custom orthotics-who would have known at 34 I would be an orthotic wearer-but these have made all the difference in my recovery. I have not been able to train for the past two months but will be starting again on Monday so please keep your fingers crossed that my leg will cooperate with my plan.

Since our last post, Abby has gotten a new job (in addition to her 2 part-time jobs). So between that and not having any training competition, she has not done much training either.

Additionally, our brother Casey is currently home on an R&R leave! We couldn't be happier to see him ;) He is so impressed with all the support that you have shown for him & the other soldiers and sends his thanks out to you all.

So as you may have guessed, there is no way that we will be prepared to run in the August 8th Paavo Nurmi Marathon. We are going to start our training back at square one due to our two month hiatus and we will be running the Rails to Trails Marathon in Sparta on November 1st.

Thank you all once again for your continued support as we continue on our marathon journey. We promise that you will see those training meters moving and more regular posts. Blessings to all!!

Pancake Breakfast Results - Wow! What Generosity!!!

Wow! Thanks to the help of so many wonderful friends & family, along with generous business sponsors and great guests including many of the Hot Rod Power Participants, our pancake breakfast fundraiser was a great success! We estimate that we served about 425 folks.We raised $1,964.38 to be donated to the local Family Readiness Groups!!! Over $600 of that were flat out donations in our donation jar!!! We are still overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who attended. Plus, we got another mile sponsored - thank you Dede!

We would like to especially take a moment to thank all our fabulous volunteers who came out late Saturday night to help us set-up, got up early to start the day on Sunday, and worked like mad all day long to cook, serve, clean-up, etc. There is no way we could have done this without you! So thank you to Ali H., Allie G., Annette, Anita, Austin, Brittany, Candy, Chris, Cindy, Colleen, Dan, Dave, Dede, Faith, Gary, Gene, Josh, Julia, Katie, Katrina, Kyle, Laura F., Laura G., Linda, Mariah, Rob F., Rob G., Roger, Taylor, Tom C., Tom F., Tom S., and Tristan. Super special thanks to Chris & Rob G. who not only volunteered, but who have also defended our freedom during previous tours of duty in Iraq. Thanks guys!!!

We had several veterans who attended and it was great to get to visit with them & hear their stories and how much they appreciated what we are doing for the troops and their families. We also were able to talk to Casey on Skype...all the way over in Iraq! Everyone enjoyed being able to see & hear from him.

Soooo, with this event & the additional mile sponsored, our total is now at: $3,182.58 - a mere $17.42 from our goal!!!

Thank you again to everyone who has helped us on our mission!

Pancake Breakfast to Benefit the Red Arrows

Please join us on Sunday, June 7th from 8am to noon for a pancake breakfast fundraiser to benefit the local 32nd Brigade Red Arrow National Guard soldiers. The event is being held in the Fort Atkinson Municipal Building Gym. The menu includes pancakes, sausage, applesauce, milk, orange juice, and coffee. Prices are $5.50 for adults, $3.50 for children ages 3 to 10, and children 2 & under are Free.

All proceeds from the breakfast will go to the Family Readiness Groups (FRGs) of the 32nd Brigade. The FRGs use these funds to send care packages to the soldiers and for support and bonding events for the soldiers’ families.

Additionally, the Hot Rod Power Tour is passing through downtown Fort Atkinson the morning of June 7th on their way from Madison to Racine. We are anticipating that many of the tour participants will be stopping for breakfast. We are also hoping that the gathering of muscle cars will be another great reason for local people to come to our event.

Thank you so much to these area businesses for contributing to the breakfast: Badger Bank, Berres Brothers Coffee of Watertown, The Blackhawk Bar & Grill, Jones Dairy Farm, Kwik Trip of Fort Atkinson, McCain Foods, Opp Inc. Print Shop, Pick N Save of Fort Atkinson, and Vos Sentry Foods.

Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers that have agreed to help us with this event too!

You may download a flyer here. Feel free to pass it along & post it wherever you think appropriate. We hope that we will see you there!

We did it!!!

The Finish Line
Kelly finishing
Abby finishing
Kelly & Abby wearing the bracelets honoring Casey.
That's right, Abby & I finished the Madison Half Marathon! 13.1 miles -what an accomplishment for two non-runners ;) We couldn't have done it without all the support from people like you, so thank you!

On race day, the traffic was backed all the way up the ramps and down the beltline so we were just getting there when the starting horn blared. We did well for the first half of the race and stayed together. We even had a beer around the 8 mile mark! Why? Well there were some very enthusiastic spectators there handing out small glasses of beer similar to those being handed out with water & gatorade at the water stations. These people were just so excited & really wanted somebody to take the beer. We figured it was the least we could do since they got up bright & early to cheer us on ;) Besides, if you remember, we are not "real" runners so we can have fun & run.

Around mile 11 we were no longer having fun. It was getting pretty hard to start running after each water station. (We walked while drinking - another lesson learned - running while drinking from an open cup does NOT work). The worst part was probably between mile 12 and 12.5, we were cramping up and slowing down. But then we could see the finish line so after one more brief walk we headed for it. Of course they would put a hill just prior to the last stretch - evil route planner people - and then the downhill side had mounds of grass growing through the cracks in the pavement...why had this not been removed? Did these people not consider the fact that maybe some of us runners would barely be able to lift our feet off the ground at this point!?!?

The homestretch was exhilarating! We gathered an extra burst of energy and crossed the finish line. Official chip times were about 2 hours & 34 minutes. Not too bad for our first time out there and considering at least 15 minutes of time waiting in line for porta-potties. The lesson...find a tree or bush. Needless to say after finishing, we were relieved to be done running but not at all feeling up for Bratfest. And then the pain set in...I sit here, two days later, typing with a bag of frozen veggies on my ankle (and it's not even the originally injured ankle). Yet another lesson learned - tape everything!

We also had some generous donations come in this week. The first was from Michele B. - thanks so much for your support! And then Tom & Kate S. sponsored TWO miles!! They took Mile #19 to commemorate their May 19th anniversary date and Mile #22, which Tom declares from his personal experience, is the last "hard" mile when running a marathon. If you would like to sponsor a mile please let us know - we still have 19 left that need sponsors ;)

Thank you all for your support both monetarily and morally!!

Please take time to remember today...

Yes, Abby & I did run the Madison Half Marathon yesterday as planned & we promise to post pictures & details tomorrow, but today we'd like to focus on Memorial Day. This is an often overlooked & understated holiday that has gotten very little recognition by people of our generation. I myself am guilty of thinking of this as a big event for the VFW's and WW II/Vietnam Vets but that it has little to do with me.

This year Memorial Day is much more personal to me. As I sat through the ceremony in Edgerton, I cried. I cried because of the guilt I felt for not having more consideration of this holiday in previous years, I cried for the mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers & sisters who had lost their loved ones in the service of our great country. And I cried for those currently protecting our freedoms, including my younger brother, Casey, and all the families who are missing their soldiers today.

Please take a moment from your day to remember all the brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. And say thanks to the veterans you may meet throughout your day. Finally, please say a prayer for all the soldiers currently protecting us and their families for the sacrifices they are making for people like ourselves...people they don't even know!

God Bless America & God Bless our Service Members Past, Present & Future!!!

Papa Murphy's Fundraiser - Great Value!!!

We are currently selling Papa Murphy's Peel-a-Deal Cards to help us reach our goal of $3,200 (one dollar for each of the Red Arrow soldiers deployed in February) These cards are just $5.00 each. You will save $22.50-$27.50 depending on what pizzas you choose to order. They are good at any Papa Murphy's & they never expire!!!

We can mail them to you if necessary at no extra cost. Send us an e-mail if you are interested to running4redarrows@yahoo.com or mail a check to:

Running 4 Red Arrows
PO Box 432
Edgerton, WI 53534

There is no limit to the number of cards you can purchase so buy lots :) Seriously, they would make great year-end gifts for teachers & bus drivers, and how about in birthday cards for those hard-to-buy-for-people, who doesn't like pizza?!?! And remember they don't expire.

If you think you can sell a number of them to your friends/co-workers please let us know and we can send you out as many as you like and you can send the funds back to us once the cards have been sold.

Special thanks to Ryan at Papa Murphy's in Fort Atkinson who also made a generous donation to our cause and hooked us up with this phenomenal fundraiser.

Thank you all again for your support!