Help My Friend Run the Boston Marathon in 2011!

We’ve made it past hump day and through the toughest part of the week!! Thank goodness! As usual, this week has been a pretty busy one. Here’s a bit of recap

Rangers vs. Canadiens Game
On Tuesday, Hubby and I went to the Rangers vs. Canadiens game at Madison Square Garden. I bought him tickets for his birthday. He is a big Canadiens fan, so we got some dirty looks as he rocked his sweatshirt proudly. We had pretty good seats, only a few rows back from the ice, which made for great viewing, but also kind of chilly.

When we got there, we grabbed a not-so-healthy, but oh so expensive dinner at MSG. The game was really good. I’m not a huge hockey fan, but I think being closer to the action helped me to be able to keep up with what was going on. In the end, the Canadiens won 2-1 and Hubby was very happy. Everyone else around us, not so much.

Boston Marathon Donations Needed!!
While we were at the game, I got a message from my best friend that sounded a little bit stressed and worried. I started thinking about all the horrible possibilities and then soon found out that she was worried because she had gotten into the 2011 Boston Marathon through a charity program and was worried she wouldn’t be able to raise the money.

Phew – I thought it was something terrible. But this was GREAT NEWS, I told her!! If you recall, she tried to qualify for Boston back in October and missed it by only a few minutes. Deep down, she still really wanted to run.

So a few weeks ago, she began applying to every charity possible that claimed to still have room–by the way, that was very, very few. Even the charity spaces filled up super fast this year.

When no charity responded, we both finally gave up on the idea of her running it with me. Sadness. 😦

But then…she heard back from the American Liver Foundation’s (ALF) Run for Research Team – she was in! The really interesting part is that this was the one group I insisted she apply to because the ALF is very close to our hearts (Hubby and I). We try to support the ALF however possible because a close family member had a successful  liver transplant in 2000. We understand how important research is and are so thankful that the transplant was possible and successful.  It seemed almost a bit like fate that the ALF miraculously had a spot open for Lauren.

So now the real fun begins – raising $3,250 in donations by April 18th! Time for me to beg on Lauren’s behalf. If you’ve ever raised money through a charity program, you know it can be a bit stressful if you don’t get the donations you need. So please, please consider donating to help my friend reach her goal! I thought, what better place to ask than the blogosphere, where so many people understand what it’s like to dream of running Boston, and at the same time raising money for such a worthy cause. I hope that you will consider donating! Visit: http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/LaurenBeaver and click on the “Click here to Sponsor Me” button above the status thermometer. Your donation would be so greatly appreciated. And don’t feel weird about donating to someone you don’t know because I check her donation status daily (okay hourly) and fill her in whenever anyone I know donates.

So there is my unabashed plea for money. 🙂

The rest of my week so far involved some running, work, snow and a movie. So coming soon…my review of Black Swan and some details about the book club I joined! Fun stuff.  Have a great Thursday!