It’s hard to believe that 10-10-10 is a week away!  In just 7 short days, I will run 26.2 miles with 45,000 other crazy people.  That date that I’ve been running towards since December of last year will soon be a memory.  What won’t be a memory, however, is the lasting impact that we are making on the lives of children and families in some of the poorest areas of Africa.  Through our efforts, lives are being changed!

I want to share some good news with you.  Between the local half-marathon team that ran a few weeks ago and the marathon team that is running next weekend, the Holland/Zeeland area alone has already raised over $43,000 to provide clean water and sanitation to communities in Africa.  Wow!

The average cost of a deep water well is $15,000.  That means that we are close to providing water for 3 communities who are currently lacking this basic necessity!  Children will be able to go to school instead of being required to carry jugs of dirty, contaminated water back to their families.  I don’t know about you, but that gets me excited!

We are also very excited to be able to actually visit 3 World Vision projects while we are in Ethiopia in just 20 short days!  We have received clearance to visit a school project, an irrigation project, and a potable (drinking) water project!  We will get to see first-hand the difference in the lives of those communities.  We will most certainly share all about this when we return! 

I have some more good news.  I have just completed raising $50 per mile ($1,310).  Thank you so much to all those who have so generously supported this worthy cause!  I know there are others who have considered it as well but haven’t yet taken the opportunity to do so.  If you are able, please consider supporting Team World Vision as I run.  Now is the time!  Together we are making a very real difference, and I know together we can do so much more!  You can donate by visiting my "Personal Page" at http://twv.convio.net/goto/chad_dykstra, or if you'd prefer to send a check, please send me an email and I can let you know how to go about doing that.

 I want to leave you with a few fun facts.  Since I began training in December of last year, I have:

• Set 2 distance PRs in “pre-race” practice races (25k – 1:59:56 and 13.1 miles – 1:34:53).  A new marathon PR is hopefully coming soon as well!
•  Laced up over 150 times in 6 different pairs of running shoes
• Burned in excess of 72,000 calories while running.  That’s 125 Big Macs for you McDonalds fans!
• Spent just shy of four complete 24 hour days running.
• Run over 700 miles.  That gets me from my front porch about 30 miles beyond Lincoln, Nebraska!

 Please remember me next Sunday as I lace up for the “big one”.  Please pray for a strong body, strong mind, and a strong finish to the race!  Also please remember those who are the reason that I run.  I care, and so I run!

Blessings,

Chad

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I’m sitting here “in the dark” after a thunderstorm knocked out our power at about 12:00 midnight.  We’re going on 19 hours currently without electricity, and I’m using the last bits of battery of my laptop to type this letter and charge our cell phones so we aren’t completely disconnected from the world after the laptop runs out of juice!
It’s a hot day, and the house is really heating up!  To make matters worse, there’s no water in the house without electricity to power the pump.  No water means no dishes…no showers…no flushing toilets.  Fortunately, occasionally we can still crack the fridge to grab something to drink if we really get thirsty.  This “minor” inconvenience is a great reminder for me.  A reminder of the deplorable conditions that so many live in every day.  A reminder of why I run!

I’m now 6 weeks into my official training for the Chicago Marathon (26.2 miles!), running for Team World Vision to provide water and sanitation to communities that currently are lacking these basic necessities.  I will be logging around 100 miles in my training this month.  Next month will be a lot bigger as we approach the race on 10-10-10!

Lora and I will be traveling to Ethiopia twice for our adoption this fall/winter, which, as of today, we can officially announce that we have been matched with two handsome young boys!  If you would like more information on this, or would like to see pictures, let me know and I'll be happy to give you the latest!  We are in communication with World Vision to attempt to visit a community in Ethiopia where they are working.  We look forward to seeing with our own eyes the life change that it provides for the community.

A special thanks to those who have supported me already!  I have reached over half of my goal of $50 per mile ($1,310).  This will provide approximately 10% of the price of a well in a rural community in Africa.  If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to support, I’d ask that you would please consider supporting me for a mile, a half mile, or whatever you are able by visiting my “personal page”  at http://twv.convio.net/goto/chad_dykstra

Thanks and God bless!

Chad

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Running 26.2 miles...in a row? Not to mention the hundreds and hundreds of miles and many months spent in training? What would ever possess a person to do such a thing? Read on!

I have engaged in this crazy act called a marathon once before, in 2001. It's funny what someone will do for love...and I must confess that was my driving force, though I wouldn't have admitted it at the time. It must have worked, because I'm married to my marathon training buddy today!

As great as it was to run the marathon with Lora, we were running it for ourselves. It was an amazing personal accomplishment, and there's nothing like the feeling of crossing that finish line! After it was over though, we put the shoes in the closet and went on with life...until now!  We are excited to have the opportunity to not only get back 'in shape' and feel that great sense of personal accomplishment, but we are especially excited about helping meet a very real need in our world at the same time!

I have developed a real heart for Africa over the past 18 months. As many of you may know, Lora and I are in the process of adopting two children from Ethiopia! We look forward to the day we get the phone call that we've been matched with children that need a family - but until that time we can't sit on our hands! That is where 26.2 for Africa comes in.

We were presented the opportunity at a conference in Chicago last year to run a race to support Team World Vision. After much prayer and consideration, we laced up the running shoes and began running! I have now officially signed up to support Team World Vision in the October 10, 2010 Chicago Marathon!

Lora and I have both been supporters of World Vision and the work they are doing around the world for those who are most in need for over 10 years. The money I am able to raise will help dig wells, provide clean water, and provide much needed sanitation in countries like Ethiopia.

Please note that your donations do not pay for my registration for the race, lodging, travel, shoes, or any other expenses that I may have through this journey. They are happily being covered by me as my contribution.

Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to support my efforts? Together we can help change lives in Africa. Please visit http://twv.convio.net/goto/chad_dykstra to make a contribution and help provide clean water for communities in need!

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'Tis the season for me to be in the woods whenever possible, and whenever I'm not to be wishing I was! 

I think my enjoyment of the outdoors in the Fall is really wearing off on my kids.  They've really enjoyed partaking in the fresh turkey and venison harvested this fall, and Abi seems to like venison jerky, even though it is "a bit burney".  If the kids are out and see deer from the car, they always get so excited and they need to hurry up and tell daddy that they found deer for me!  "Daddy, are you going to go shoot em?"  Sorry kids, it doesn't work that way.

At this point, they don't seem to be put off by a harvested deer hanging from a chain hoist...they even wanted to watch me process it, fully expecting to have to stand back because blood would be spraying everywhere.  Who knows where they come up with this stuff!

It's pretty funny to watch the kids get all excited about watching Michigan Out of Doors with daddy.  Earlier this week we gave the kids the option of watching a show before bed, and guess what they picked?  It wasn't Dinosaur train, or Bob the Builder, or any other kid shows they like to watch...you guessed it..."I want to watch that show with the deer that we watched yesterday".  Fortunately we have a couple different episodes saved on the DVR so mommy doesn't have to go crazy watching the same hunting footage over and over!

I'm sure hoping this stands the test of time, I'd love to take the kids out hunting when they're old enough and have them excited about it!
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Lora and I helped to create the now locally famous ES 'Pump toppers' at the Big Curve gas station.  For those of you who haven't seen them or haven't seen the article, you can check it out on the Sentinel's website at the following link:

http://hollandsentinel.com/stories/110907/local_20071109001.shtml


It's pretty cool to have something that we designed featured on the front page of the paper...I guess we did OK for our first crack at graphic design!  Here's to hoping the 'good press' will help the cause and bring people in to Starting Point to check out what's going on. 

If you haven't seen the graphics...here's a pretty one that just happens to have my picture on it!   Just a disclaimer, this one didn't make press so you don't have to worry about seeing my mug at the pumps! 


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