Dedication The Big Race - Sept 26, 2009

Dedication: My Family, I am overjoyed to let you know that my son made it safely back stateside from his year's tour of duty in Iraq. Yet, I am very sadden too. Approximately 4 days after he arrived at his duty station my son was informed that his former Wing Commander in Iraq, became an Angel on 8 September, 2009. And like my Warrior Buddies, a true hero indeed.

This weekend I am running my first 50 mile race and in addition to dedicating this race to all of my Little Warriors and Buddies, I am making a special dedication to honor the memory of 1st LT Joseph Helton, USAF. And for my son and for all who serve in the USAF Security Forces, I will carry you and your comrades with me in spirit to honor the memory of all fallen Security Force warriors. All of you have my unending gratitude - God Bless you.

I will provide a more comprehensive update after the race this weekend. Until then I again reitterate my promise to you, my Little Buddies and Families:

"I promise that I shall not stop running till the cure is found. If I should become too old or weak to run, it is then I will ask our Heavenly Father to carry me to the finish line - The Cure Gj

Till later God Bless.

Grandpa John.

PS: Carson Clark: I just have to let you know that you are my hero Little Buddy and this race is especially for you too.

I AM BACK; NEXT RACE; THE BIG RUN NEXT YEAR

I’m Back: Wow! It’s been far too long since I provided an update. Truth be told, since the long run I have been somewhat lazy, but now is the time be reenergize and continue of fighting the good fight and running for my Little buddies. Over the course of the next couple of weeks or so I’ll be getting our Angel's Honor Roll- A Forever Dedication updated and updating oterh areas of the Blog as necessary.

NEXT RACE/DEDICATION: What is new on the near horizon? Well I am glad that you asked that question, I am going to be a hippie (again or is it for the first time since I was in the army during that period) that is I am “Running Woodstock;” no not in New York, but right here in Michigan. It will be a far out weekend just choke full of running and wild times (not too wild for ol Gj) and may be just a flash back to the younger days. The race I will run is a 50 miler. Yep, you read rightly. I am going to do the Peace Love 50 Miler, my first. Now mind you there is a 15 hour time limit for this run and should make it. I know 15 hours seems like an awfully long time and the trail is the very difficult 12.5-mile loop of the Potawatomi trail in the Pinckney MI recreation area. But I just ain’t gonna quit till I get the 50 in for my Little Buddies. They will help me thru the difficult areas and times - I will be carrying all of the pictures I had with me on our journey run the entire distance.

Dedication: I dedicate this race to all of my Little Buddies, especially Noah Scott Biorkman who is having a pretty rough go at it right now, and his family and to the memory of all of our Angels. I know I’ll never hit a major league home run Noah, but I do promise you that I will finish this50 Miler for you. My prayers are with all of you.

THE BIG RUN NEXT YEAR – In planning stages...will it be “From the Border to the Bridge Part II???” Who knows? Stay Tuned.

Special Note of Love: Even though most of us have never met and probably never will have the opportunity to do so, I just can’t put into words just how much I love every one of you – I promise I won’t stop running till the cure is found.

Grandpa John

“It is not wise to win a battle for the sake of glory just to lose the war. We will complete the race before us and will not stop till the cure is found” Grandpa John

The 330 Mile Run Report - Fighting Neuroblastoma - Childhood Cancer

Please follow this link to our other blog to read the report on the run to the Mackinaw Bridge:

http://www.fightingchildhoodcancer.blogspot.com/


God Bless you till Later,

Grandpa John

PS: If you'd like to see the pictures please send me an email and I will send you the link to my MySpace account wherein the pictures reside - Thanks, Gj

Newest Sponsor; Countdown to the Run - T minus....

Newest Sponsor - Folks if you're ever in the Mount Pleasant , MI area, please stop by our newest sponsors hotel, "The Comfort Inn & Suites University Park" Just click on the picture of the Bridge above and follow the links on the other blog site for the run. And please be sure to tell them that Grandpa John sent you :)

Countdown to the Run: T Minus 010:14:10 and counting....

Till later I am off and getting ready for the run...see you soon..

“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” Morrie Schwartz

God Bless

Gj

Letter from Governor of Michigan-Well Wishes; Count Down & New shirt; New Sponsor; Say Who Is This fellow?

Letter from Governor of Michigan-Well Wishes: I’ve been writing so many letters to so many people to be honest, I cannot for the life of me remember if I wrote to our governor explaining the who, what, and why of the upcoming 330 mile run. Yet, somehow, I received a letter from her expressing her well wishes for the upcoming run and an Irish blessing J I am forever grateful for that letter as I now know that one more person is aware of neuroblastoma and its horrors; thank you Governor Granholm your letter and blessings means very much to me. Here is a picture of it:

Count Down: All Systems are Go! As of 11:30am Sunday, May 3, 2009 we are in countdown mode. We are at T minus 11 days, 20 hours, 30 minutes and 0 seconds until Friday, May 15, 2009 at 8:00:00 AM (Detroit time) See our count down timer above

New Shirt – Here is a picture of one of the shirts I be wearing while I run the “From the Border to the Bridge” run.

Front:

Back:

As you can see I did not distinguish between our Warriors and Angels. If anyone asks who is who I’d be able to tell them, but that is not the point I am trying to make. “Anyone’s child could be stricken with this horrible disease - do you know which one?” That is the same for our Poster board pictures….which one??? Our Warrior and Angels look very health…but looks are deceiving, aren’t they? Hopefully, those meet during the run feel the impact of what is not being said.

New Sponsor: (See "From the Border to the Bridge Blog"- click on picture of bridge above) My thanks and appreciation goes out to Quality Inn of Gaylord Michigan for providing me and my support crew (Missus Gj and Babee) one of our nights lodging. So folks if you’re ever traveling through the Gaylord MI. area please plan on spending the night at one of our most wonderful sponsors. If you cannot stay then please stop to let them know you heard about them from Ol’ Gj.

Last Two Weeks – Action packed; that is all I can say! First we continued finding lodging for our nightly slumber and then last weekend Missus GJ, Babee and myself traveled the last 130 miles (or so) of the route.

Early last Saturday morning we left for Clare Mi.; the city where we stopped our route verification the previous weekend. Traveling northward we drove through Harrison, and verified one of our sponsors addresses (meaning - could we find it) and there approximately 200 yards off our route stood Lakeside Motel and Cottages...how beautiful, right on Budd Lake. Missus Gj and I will most definitely plan a few days vacation here later in the summer.

Out of Harrison we continued north going through Higgins Lake, and onward to Grayling MI. About 12 miles or south of Grayling we got lost, or should I say the map was mismarked giving directions without actually names the roads we should take. What is really surprising is that we actually found our way to Grayling just by following the road we were on till it dead-ended and turned right ….

Leaving Grayling we made our way to Gaylord without much ado. As we traveled north of Gaylord we passed a little park we stopped and took a few pictures (see previous posting.) Pressing on we made our way to Indian River (our final night before Mackinaw City). We didn’t spend any time there as it was starting to get late and we needed to make our destination at a reasonable hour. Finally we arrived in Mackinaw City - the finishing point of this year’s run for of love (all of my runs of love J ones (Again the picture are in the previous post.)

No one will have to tell me to go and jump in to the lake. I will jump into the lake when I arrive – I will do so willing as a refreshing break from the many miles….I just hope Missus Gj get pictures of the shocked look I’ll have on my face…that water is very, very cold.

Say Who is this fellow?

I’ll give you 3 guesses, and the first two don’t count…I was rummaging through some old pictures and found one of me from my late of coming hippie days (Actually, I was in the Army during the 60’s/70’s hippie movement.) This picture was taken at Jacob’s Ladder Folk Music Festival in Kiryat Shmona, Israel circa 1991 – I was a late bloomer for sure and loved every minute of it

God Bless, Till Later,

Gj

Whew! Completed Dry Run of the 330 mile Run.

Whew! Today was a long day for ol' Gj and the Missus, so I'll make this short. We began at 8am and headed north to completed the last third of the dry run for the 330 mile run. The further north we traveled, the more hilly the terrain became; a runners dream (or is that nightmare?) What really surprised us was the maps provided by Google dot com maps - for the most part were right on, and within a tenth or so of the mileage indicated. We did however get lost twice, and each time it was because the directions were very vague, reading something like turn right and head towards such and such road, but no mention was made of the name of the road we were to turn right or left on. So we worked ahead and worked our way backwards to where we were and it worked. (Not to mention the help of several locals along the way)

Missus Gj is napping, Babee is sleeping right next to her..Ahh life is good I am blessed...all systems are go!

Here are a few pictures of todays journey:

Park Just North of Gaylord

Portion of the Route

Bridge in the Distance















The Fort Entrance


Our Destination- The Bridge! May 25th, 2009

Find the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life.

Leo Buscaglia

God Bless each of you now and always and in all ways.

Gj

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL OF MY LITTLE BUDDIES & FAMILIES; THE BIG RUN-A GOOD START ON THE AWARENESS POSTER

Happy Easter - I know this is almost late...I'd like to wish all of my Little Buddies and their families the bestest and mostest Happy Easter ever and that the Easter bunny left loads of chocolate and candy eggs and all sorts of good stuff. Remember, all of you are in my daily prayers -
"Happy Easter" Little Buddies."

THE BIG RUN-A GOOD START ON THE AWARENESS POSTER: Time surely has away of creeping up on us. In just a few more weeks Missus Gj and I will be off and running our 330 mile adventure raising awareness of neuroblastoma and childhood cancer by promoting bicycle & pedestrian safety and driver alertness all the way. I am getting so excited :) Well, this weekend we got a great start on our awareness poster. Just a few more information cards to print and mount and to print all of the pictures that were sent to me (boy oh boy, you guys and gals are really handsome and pretty :) ..it will be awesome...we'll tell everyone we meet that we're not quiting till the cure is found and they can help with a small donation.!!! Oh, before,I forget here's a picture of our poster board

Till later as now I am off printing the picrures you sent me; all of you have blest me so much -thank you

“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.” (Author unknown to me)

God Bless,

Gj

Far Too Many New Angels....I shall Never Quit!.

As I attempt to catch up with all of the happenings within the world of NB, I am becoming all too well aware that far too many Little Buddies are becoming Angels far too early. My heart aches for all of my Little Buddies, and their families fighting this horrible disease. With so many relapses of late and several new angels, it is it’s hard to figure out the why as there is no reason other than our humanity. My solace resides in my faith knowing they are sitting at the loving Hand of our Blessed Lord for all eternity. My joy is the hope and knowledge that someday I too will join them.

This past Saturday, I learned that a very special person to me (all of my Little Buddies are very special to me) left us to join our ever growing Angelic Choir. Cody Johnson, although I never met you in person, I must know let you know that you are why I started running for my Little Buddies and their families. I had dreams that one day you and your very special dad, Mickey and I would run a marathon or at least a half marathon together; beating all odds, we would conquer the unconquerable.

Well, now that will never be, or will it? I will carry you in my heart, and your name will take its place of honor and in memory on our Angels Rainbow racing shirt. Every mile I run and every race I race will be for you and for your family and for all of my Little Buddies and their families. If I am really lucky maybe one day Grandpa John will not have to run another single mile fighting NB as a cure will have been found. But until that day happens, I again make you and all of my Little Buddies this Promise:

“I will continue to run to raise Funds (I pray so) for research and awareness for the cause until my legs gets too old or tired to run; then I’ll just let my Heavenly Father carry me onward in my racing till the cure is found. I Shall Never ever quit!”

May the Peace of our Heavenly Father grant peace and bestow a special healing potion of love to the families and friends of our newest Angels: Cody Johnson, Emilio Gravez, Jacob Stovall, Noah Tyler Bell, Shu Qinpet (pet name Xinxin) and Jenna Mussolini.

Their names will be added to our Angels Forever memorial and to my Angles Rainbow Racing shirt.

Please inform me if I have misspelled or misnamed any one of our most precious and beautiful Angels, I will correct immediately- Thanks Gj

Gj’s Whereabouts, Angels Swan Song, Border to the Bridge is still ago, Getting excited

Gj’s Whereabouts: Finally, time is starting to smile giving me an opportunity to update a sadly neglected blog. Actually, since just before Christmas work and family issues have taken over my life allowing very little opportunity to keep our blog current. I won’t’ go into the details since they are really boring; suffice to say “I am Back!” and I will work really hard at keeping you all updated on progress made.

Angels Swan Song: My dear friends please accept my apologies for not keeping our “Angel's Honor Roll- A Forever Dedication updated. So many new angels have joined the heavenly choir that my heart is overwhelmed with sadness. I know many of my Little buddies have gained their wings ; so many since my last update that I am not sure if I have all of their names. So, if you see that I have missed someone, please send me their name and I’ll add them to our honor roll. My condolences and prayers go out for all of the families and love ones who have gained a new angle within their family.

A light snow fell during last Saturday’s training run. It was beautiful. As the snowflakes landed gently on my brow I became aware of an inner voice whispering “Hey Grandpa John, please add our names to the Angel's Honor Roll- A Forever Dedication list. We do not want to be forgotten.”

Well now, I don’t know about you but when I get a request from my inner voice I listen, besides I made a promise to all of my Little Buddies and their families too that I would not let them be forgotten, I’d do all I can to be a voice for the voiceless. The heavenly choir’s newest angels singing sweet melodic songs are Nicholas Pagano, Trooper Dante Tareboreli, Carter Wax, Zachary Finestone, Cora McClenahan, Little Roy Gutierrez and Chloe Smith

Border to the Bridge is Still a Go: All Systems are Go for May’s run - Stay tuned more to follow. All I can say is that I am glad that I am not in the logistics field.

Getting Excited: I just have to share with my family that Daniel, my son who is currently stationed in Iraq, will be home on R & R in a couple of months and I am getting really excited. I’ll be so happy to see him as it’s been almost 2 years since we’ve had the opportunity to be together. Please pray for all of our men and women who are in harms ways; they deserve no less - Gj