Many of you have done a lot of races. Many of you have gotten a lot of t-shirts. Many of those shirts are sitting in your closet or dresser and haven't been touched or worn for months or years. Many of us have heard the following from our spouses or significant others, "Why don't you get rid of some of these race shirts? You haven't worn this in a very long time."
Many times we will go into our closet or dresser, open up the drawer and think, "Yeah, maybe I should get rid of some of these, but this one...". Have you ever said that or some version of that statement?
Many times it is followed up with, "...this was the race that I qualified for Boston. I can't get rid of this one" or "...this was the race that ran my 10k PR. I can't get rid of this one." Then we end up in the same position we were when we started...many times with a slightly cleaner pile of shirts. These shirts take us to a different place in time. A place where we had "One of those days!!!" or a time when we had "...it was just one of those days". They are shirts that have stories. Stories of your bests and your firsts.
The Capital Striders have the incredible honor of supporting many local charities from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Central Iowa, & local track clubs. There is one though where the next time you hear "Why don't you get rid of some of those race shirts?" you can take that shirt and pass on the story and bless some children in Central Iowa. You can help them on their list of "bests" and "firsts".
"See - Us Run Des Moines is a program to help teens who face adversity in their lives learn that they are capable, resourceful and resilient to respond to life challenges by providing them the opportunity to experience first - hand the benefits of goal - setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health through committing to, training for, and completing the Des Moines Marathon." - See Us Run Des Moines
While SRDM is always looking for running mentors, the kids tend to be not as fortunate in having the right gear and they are looking for those old race shirts. If you have a closet full of technical material shirts or just some tech shirts that you would like to go to a great organization that is helping kids learn how to set goals and improve their health, please email info@capitalstriders.org or email Cindy at Iowa Kidstrong (cindy@iowakidstrong.com) to find out where you can drop off. It's that time of the year to help these kids get "geared up"
Stay Strong, Run Long,
Brad