Do you have an idea for some Strava art? Read on to see how you can contribute!

(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 2)

The one big reason I wanted to run the Boston Marathon again was that I thought it would be easier the second time around.

Well, not easier.

But you know what I mean - it just wouldn’t be the first time, so I had experience and would know what to expect and had the chance to improve upon my performance because I had a better idea about my approach.

The one thing I was worried about - potentially the hardest thing about doing the marathon the second time - was rallying people for my fundraising again.

You might be surprised to hear this because of how often I posted about it the first time around, but - like most people, I guess - I am not very comfortable asking for money.

And to have to do it again for the second time within a year…I understand it’s a big ask.

But that’s why I’m doing it differently this time around.

I chose that title for this post because, well, for one I thought if I advertised this was about fundraising people wouldn’t read it…

But also because I’m trying to make the fundraising worth your while this time around. It’s not an untrue title - whether it’s a prize, or some fun with Strava, or maybe something else: Here’s What You Get!

The big thing about raising money by running a first marathon is that it’s my first! It’s exciting! It’s something people want to give to.

But all of a sudden here we are a few months later and I’m doing it again…I know that’s less exciting.

So that’s why I want to lay out some information for you.

One is that I’m running for an entirely different charity this time around. (There are actually five different charities for Team Framingham runners this spring than there were in the fall - the charities are chosen by a lottery just like the runners - and I had to do some work to make my selection. They’re all worthwhile and you can look them up on GivenGain if you want to support other runners.)

I’ve been telling you in my posts so far (only on Facebook once or twice and once on Instagram…it’s not like you’ve missed a bunch) that I would be telling you more about the Wonderfund of Massachusetts - this is where I do that. I’ll close the post with their information so I can get to more of the incentives here.

As you may already know, I’m trying to take a big chunk out of the fundraising goal with a Super Bowl Squares pool. I have plenty of boxes available as of this writing, so please reach out if you’re interested - text, e-mail, comment on this post, Facebook message, whatever. Then we’ll work out payment from there. Please don’t give through the fundraising page if you want a Super Bowl square - I haven’t figured out yet how to manage this since I have to do payouts. Here are the details:

The squares are $25 each. So that gives us a pot of $2500 to work with. $1500 of that will go right to the charity, thank you very much. Then we’ll do prize payouts like this:

For the first score of the game: $50

For the score at the end of the 1st quarter: $75

For the halftime score: $250

For the score at the end of the 3rd quarter: $125

For the final score: $500

(If there’s overtime, we’ll go with $100 for the score at the end of the 4th quarter and $400 for the final score.)

(I’m kind of excited about throwing in the first score of the game. That really raises the interest for the squares that have a 0.)

If you’ve never done this before, a quick explainer: I’ll draw numbers randomly the week of the Super Bowl (or sooner if the pool fills quickly!) and those numbers will match up to the ones column of the scores at the various stages of the game.

OK. Here’s another incentive, which I hope I can make work. Last time I did a “John As His Run On Strava” gag where I took a picture matching the routes I ran that looked like some kind of person. This time around I’m going to let you choose the design and I’ll try to create that with a run on Strava.

So if you donate $50 (2 squares - or after the Super Bowl is over) or more, you can make a Strava art request and I’ll do my darnedest to run that design. Maybe it’s writing your name, maybe it’s something more complex and impossible…who knows! (Nothing vulgar, please.)

So that’s what I’m thinking. Originally I had the idea that we’d do a comedy show fundraiser, too, but I can’t in good conscience suggest that kind of get-together right now. We’ll see how things unfold between now and April.

But, thank you for your support. I promise the next marathon I run (yeah, there’s probably more coming) will be one that I don’t have to fundraise for.

And here’s the info I promised: The other nice thing is that I get to step out of my comfort zone and raise money for these really wonderful charities and causes. And I know it brings some of you joy to give and I’m a conduit for that by doing this, so…well, you’re welcome, I guess.

But as for this race’s charity: I’ve been giving you the short version in my posts so far - the Wonderfund works with the Department of Children and Families to help children in really difficult situations. The more detailed version of that, in the Wonderfund’s words, is this:

With the support of people like you, the Wonderfund provides immediate help for children and teens engaged at the Framingham Department of Children and Families Office during trauma and transition (the tough stuff). When a child needs to be removed from their home for their own safety, they provide a new duffel bag filled with clean clothing, new pajamas, a toothbrush, and perhaps a comforting teddy bear to make a difficult moment a little easier.

They also provide resources for enriching activities (the fun stuff). They enable children and teens to have opportunities that every child deserves - opportunities like music lessons, SAT prep, soccer camp, holiday presents, and driver’s ed classes.

And of course you can find out whatever else you’d like to know at their website.

It’s also worth noting that the Boston Marathon is a major fundraising source for so many worthy causes and the fact that it is able to take place and hopefully won’t be canceled like it was in 2020 is a good thing on so many levels for so many people.

Notes

*You can Like the Facebook page, follow me on Twitter, and remember, I’ve got that Instagram page where you can keep tabs on pretty much my day-to-day with running: @johnnyrunsalot.

*I had kind of an exciting idea this week. Do you remember last week I told you I was toying with the idea of a list of shows and movies watched and albums listened to and books read throughout the new year? Well, I was a little daunted by the idea of a year-end list of all of that…but then I thought, I can just share that with you in small chunks week by week. So essentially we’re bringing back ‘What I’ve Been Enjoying’ - I’ll just list what I did. This week was a little more listening than watching:

’Nevermind’ - Nirvana
‘Let It Be’ - The Beatles
‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ - Elton John
‘Pretenders’ - Pretenders
‘Learning to Crawl’ - Pretenders
Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 3 (These were the Tobey Maguire ones. For no particular reason…)

I’m sure the way I format this will change from week to week. I was intending to do something every day but as I was thinking what to listen to on Saturday I decided I shouldn’t force it. So I’m proud of myself for that - it’s probably good for my brain that I am not going to total 365. I might comment on stuff from week to week, like whether I truly enjoyed it or not, but for this week I’ll leave it there. I’ve gone on probably too long this week anyway.

*Wait. One last late Saturday note: I hosted Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’ Saturday night. It was a good time. I honestly don’t know how to feel about getting back into comedy - there are so many venues where it’s just so tight that I don’t know whether I would feel OK being there - but Exhibit ‘A’ has always felt great. It’s nice and open, so we’re not right on top of each other - and to be honest, at this point it doesn’t matter how I did hosting (it was fine - I was a little rusty) - that’s an important first step. I’ll have fewer reservations each time moving forward - at least with that show. And we’ll see how I feel going elsewhere.