So you might not know but I spend my regular weekdays interning just off of 322 in State College at the offices of The Kevin Dare Foundation. It’s a very cool gig. I have my own office, computer, phone, and access to unlimited coffee and stationery.
We’re a little charity with a big heart and in 2012 we have some very ambitious plans. You see, Kevin Dare was the sort of guy who appreciated a challenge. He worked hard, and he won easy. So when we were looking to create a new event to raise money for the Foundation, I thought to myself, what sort of things am I good at? How can I challenge myself the way that Kevin did?
Now from this point, everything just sort of snowballed. I was out on a run with the Penn State guys, we got talking as you do on runs, fantasizing, elaborating, shooting the bull, about how cool it would be to go on an epic running adventure. I happened to mention that I was trying to come up with an event for the Kevin Dare Foundation. Luke Watson happened to mention that it was almost exactly 1,000 miles from State College to Minneapolis: ie. exactly 1,000 miles from where Kevin lived, loved and learned, to where he tragically died. It turned out with a little bit of research that not only was this possible, there was also a standing World Record for a ten person, 1,000 mile relay.
I’m a bit of a believer in fate so I’m not surprised that we found runners to do this pretty easily. We even managed to recruit Dennis Pollow a certified nutritionist, and Teddy Quinn a social media genius. The rest of the guys bring other talents as well, including being able to run a bit (ever heard of Brian Sell?).
So here are the details: August 26th 2012 (my birthday), we are going to start at the very spot Kevin passed away, the pole vault pit at the University of Minnesota. Alternating approximately every 5 miles, we are going to run all the way to State College, PA, in under the current World Record of 99 hours, 3 minutes, and 27 seconds. That is a pace of 5.57 min/mile. Each runner will cover right around 100 miles each in that time.
Now in addition to taking on this crazy feat, we’re also trying to raise money for The Kevin Dare Foundation mission. That mission is to provide scholarships to injured and ill high school student-athletes. At heart, we’re trying to give back to those who may have lost out on sporting scholarships through some tragic event, the opportunity to go to college. All of the runners on the team have been student-athlete at some point. We know how rewarding that can be. We want to be able to give a new opportunity to those who might feel that that dream has gone away.
So check out the website for the run – www.lifebackontrack.com, and for the Foundation – www.kevindare.com. Then call me, email me, or write me, and help us help them.
rfoster@kevindare.com/814.235.3528