Saturday, November 25, 2017

Moving My Feet for Art City; 341 meters, 782 steps.

Come join me, move your feet for Art City.
On December 3, 2017 I am moving my feet for Art City. I will run ten loops of the Wolseley Avenue/ Wellington Crescent trail in the hopes of raising $3000 for Art City. Tomorrow I run my last training run, 24 miles, then the sweet taper. Loving the taper!

The total distance is 58.341 kilometers, that's 341 meters beyond 58 kilometers, a mere 782 steps from finishing. My mind will be numb, my eyes moist, and my heart and bones spent.  If you can lend your support, this is where I will need you the most...341 meters from the finish, a mere 782 steps. I won't be pretty, but I will smile and wave, guaranteed.

Truth be told I have never run 58.341 kilometers. I've come close, but never 58 kilometers and never in the winter. If I succeed this will be the greatest physical accomplishment of my entire 61 years.

I am running to support Art City. This is not about ego, it's about doing good. It's about being an art-citizen. It's about moving our feet, figuratively and literally, to strengthen our community. It's about making our city more accessible, more inclusive, more kind.

Anxiety sets in as race day approaches.  Am I strong enough?  Can I do this? Am I eating right?  Do I feel a cold coming on?  What will the weather throw at me? Do I have the correct gear? And on and on... the anxiety rolls through my brain... relentlessly....3 AM haunts me... seemed like a good idea at the time... what was I thinking.... Only runners will understand.

I can do this. It will be hard, really hard, but nowhere near as hard the work accomplished daily by the volunteers, staff, and board of directors of Art City who work tirelessly to improve the human condition of West Broadway, an under resourced neighbourhood not unlike Vancouver's Lower East Side or Toronto's Jane and Finch. Where some see blight, Art City sees hope.

As of this moment this campaign has raised $2390, or about 80% of the $3000 goal.  If you have the means please consider donating by clicking here.  You can also share this post to your friends, colleagues, and family. And finally, please join me at anytime on Sunday, run or walk, cheer, smile, wave, and especially that last 341 meters, 782 steps, that's where I will need you the most.

See Mike Run for the Mun, Dash for the Cash!

When you pray, move your feet.

It's a good day to be alive.

Mike


Sunday, November 19, 2017

Cuddle Kitties for Art City... training for Moving My Feet

About midway through today's 31 mile training run for the Moving My Feet for Art City event  I had a full-on explosion of an idea!

"Oh, oh" says wife.

Jennifer and I are caring for a mother cat and her three kittens for three weeks.  Here's the awesome idea....

Why not make the kitties work for their kibble and grow some cash for Art City?

Serious blogger at work.
Barn Hammer Brewing Company, 595 Wall Street, Winnipeg
Starting today, for the very low price of $25 (all funds payable to Moving My Feet for Art City), you can cuddle kittens in a nice warm room, on a comfy chair, in front of a crackling fire with a pot of tea, with a playlist of your choice. And, if that's not enough, you get a tax receipt!  It's like free kitty therapy.

Group rates available.  

Kidding of course... I'm still a little delirious from the run.  Come and cuddle kitties anytime (but  be prepared for some arm twisting).

I had the good company of Carly for 11 miles this morning (and Tim, Lynn, and Darcie on previous runs).  We talked Netflix (Ozark), podcasts (S Town), books (Kindle vs paper) friendships, children, relationships, work challenges, and on and on.  We chatted, and chuckled, and listend respectfully.  It was an affirmation that all is right in the world, and it is indeed a good day to be alive. The miles passed quickly and comfortably.

We danced along Wellington and grooved on Wolseley.

What will our $3000 contribution mean to Art City? What are the tangible results? Can it be measured in quantitative terms? For sake of argument let's say yes. In quantitative term $3000 will buy... oh I don't know... let's say:
  • 1000 paintbrushes or,
  • 30 gallons of paint or,
  • a wheelbarrow full of googly eyes or,
  • nutritious snacks for a month or,
  • who cares?
I have no idea and I really don't care, and neither should you.

It's the qualitative experience that excites me. What will $3000 buy in qualitative terms?  I say with certainty our $3000 will buy:
  • an opportunity for West Broadway youth, who do not have the opportunity as their same aged peers in other areas of Winnipeg, to explore and express their creative potential in a warm, inclusive  environment.
  • a dedicated and caring staff whose primary goal is to make all youth (and adults) feel accepted, valued, and safe.  
  • an anchor for the community where citizens of all walks gather to celebrate life.
  • a residency program featuring artists from (literally) all over the world who roll up their sleeves and work with West Broadway youth for a week, developing incredible art projects and then another artist and another week, then another....
  • a weekly outreach program that services 6 communities city wide.
I can keep going but I think you catch my drift.  Art City cannot be measured in quantitative terms (as much as the beancounters would like it to be that simple). I've said it before but it bears repeating here:

Art City:
  • is a lifeline for West Broadway,
  • fills the cracks and voids of social programming and access to mental health opportunities,
  • is a beacon of possibility, a place of hope, a bed of positivity.
How can one possibly measure that in quantitative terms? 

I'm shooting for $3000.  At this moment I have reached $2015, a little more than two thirds of my goal. 

Come for kitty therapy and help close the gap.  Like a kitty on your lap on a cold winter afternoon, you'll feel warm and fuzzy all over.  Click, click, click....

To donate please click here or click the widget on the sidebar.

It is, without a doubt, a good day to be alive.

Mike

Saturday, November 11, 2017

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

U2

The Lockport Rivers Edge Run is proposing a full marathon option to their very successful 1/2 marathon/ 30 km event.  They are requesting our feedback so here goes.

What's not to like? I think it's a great idea and it will be an nice addition to a busy autumn race season. Let's not forget the Treherne full marathon or the recently announced MEC full marathon, plus the many half-marathon events and 30 km events in and around Winnipeg and Grand Forks including Chicago, Minneapolis and Regina.

Will the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Run finally take the leap to 26.2 in 2018 and upset the proverbial apple cart?  Only Jonathan knows for sure, but my money says yes.

With due respect to the RDs and planning committees of Rivers Edge marathon and MEC marathon their events are local community events that will attract 25 to 50 runners at most.  I'm not sure why MEC is even considering a marathon event given they cater to trail runners. If they want to expand they should be looking at a 50 km ultra... not a marathon which falls clearly in the domain of road runners.

The point is, and admittedly it's a selfish one, quite simply I still haven't found what I'm looking for. The Lockport and MEC marathons will never be destination runs.  They will forever cater to a small market in an very crowded field. It's a lot of work to pull off a marathon (if done right) and the payoffs can be intrinsically rewarding but financially less so.

Would I run their marathon? Sure, providing their event fits in with my training schedule and budget. Neither event would be a destination, more of a goodwill community event.

This blogger suggests MEC and Lockport enter this field with eyes wide open, especially their first year.  Runners have come to expect minimal requirements.  The weather can make it or break it so consult your crystal ball. And for goodness sake, whatever you do, don't have participants run two loops of your half marathon event and call it a full!

The Lockport Rivers Edge Marathon and the MEC Marathon will never be 'destination' runs. You need look no further than Treherne. That's not a bad thing, it's just the reality.

I'm looking for a big city marathon that attracts international elite runners with cash prizes.  I long for a Winnipeg autumn Marathon that is at least as big as Regina Marathon (can the bar be set any lower.. kidding, I love Regina). I wait with baited breath for the courage of a race director to step forward and yell

Yes! We can do this!

The trouble with Winnipeg is we think small.  We need to start thinking big.

It's a good day to be alive.

Mike


Saturday, November 4, 2017

When you pray, move your feet.


Art City needs our help. Founded in 1997 by internationally acclaimed artist Wanda Koop, Art City is committed to providing professional *free* art programming to West Broadway inner-city children.  They maintain six outreach locations and provide nutritional hot meals to dozens of hungry West Broadway children six days a weeks, fifty-two weeks a year. 

Art City is all that and so much more. It is the heart and soul of this diamond in the rough West Broadway neighbourhood.  Indeed for many of its citizens, Art City is a lifeline. Art City fills the cracks and voids of social programming and access to mental health opportunities.  Art City is a beacon of possibility, a place of hope, a bed of positivity.

Presently Art City is in financial distress and calls upon us to move our feet.

African proverb.
On Sunday, December 3, 2017 I will run ten loops of the Wolseley Avenue/ Wellington Crescent trail for a combined total of twenty bridge crossings and fifty-eight kilometers (thirty-six miles). Start time is 0600 from my front door.  The goal is to raise $3000 for Art City.

Please join me.  Move your feet. Run, walk, cycle, or wheel a loop or two. Throw money at me as I run by (throw more if I'm crawling), or make a secure online donation by clicking hereAll donations of $25 or more will receive a tax-receipt.  

God tweeted. She's giving a free pass from church on December 3 if instead you move your feet for Art City. 

It's a good day to be alive.

Mike