A HUGE Thank You to all that helped support my TrackFriday run this past Friday….read on to see how everything turned out….

….by the way, this is just the beginning for“I Run 41”….keep up to date on I Run 41 events by entering your email below.

Background of I Run 41…my Track Friday Run.

This past Friday – Track Friday – I ran an individual 10k to raise awareness of Veteran Suicide.

I asked you all to support me in my run by donating money to a group called STAGVets – a 501(c)(3) that is raising awareness of Veteran suicide and working to prevent it in a unique and empowering way.

Read about STAG Vets by clicking here.

How did the Track Friday run go? 

Scroll down to see my post-run video, and the info about the route I took.

Well, we accomplished some pretty cool things:

* Thanks to individual donors, we raised $1883 in  donations for STAG Vets. 100% of those donations will go to STAGVets.

* Thanks to the generosity of David Underwood – our sponsor at Sigma Pro (a North Texas Texas Injection Molding Company), we raised $455 in matching donations!

* The gang at STAGVets set up a walk themselves, and had a pretty damn good turnout to support the organization and raise some extra funds and awareness.

The STAGVets Walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My “I Run 41” Post-Run Video

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The 10k “I Run 41” Stats (Little Rock):

Where does the “I Run 41” campaign go from here?

What I really want to do is find a way to incorporate running into efforts to raise money and solutions for the survivors of Veteran suicide.

The spouses and children of Veterans who commit suicide are often left without a chair when the Veteran stops the music:

* Their family income plummets, and they often become homeless

* Family support resources disappear – the VA isn’t known for sticking by the survivors and children.

* Education and career opportunities fall by the way-side

* Many survivors spend years racked with guilt thinking that they could have done more to help

* There is a stigma attached with suicide – and those associated with it.

I see it every week, usually – a child or spouse of a Veteran that commits suicide calls us to find out what to do or where to start picking up the pieces.  Nothing I tell them can replace a child’s loss of their mommy, or daddy….a wife’s loss of a husband or her soul-mate….

I want to do something to raise awareness – and get support for – the real victims of Veteran suicide….and I’d like “I Run 41” to be a big part of that.

So, over the Christmas holiday, I will be spending some time with this idea at my “Drawing Board”.

If  you would like to keep up to date on what’s going on with “I Run 41”, sign up for free email alerts here.

Or, if you can help me figure out the path forward for I Run 41, click here to send me some ideas/feedback.