With August upon us, there are only 5 months left in the year.  That seems impossible.  After our 40 mile running trek down the Rogue River Trail in May, we have continued a decent level of training throughout the summer knowing that the fall brings several big races.  Overall, it’s been a good training year having only missed 5 days of running in the last 8 months.

This week, I have two exciting running related events coming up.  The first is on Wednesday when, for the first time in my life, I will shave my head!  Why would I do that?  Well, I challenged my community of friends to donate $1500 in a w0704150753beek to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in support of my Chicago Marathon run in October and if they succeeded I would shave my head.  To my surprise and gratitude, my generous colleagues donated over $2200 to St. Jude and to be true to my word, I will gladly shave my head.  In fact, because I am a big believer in St. Jude and their mission, I would encourage anyone to take a look at what they do and make a donation if you are so inclined.  You can check them out here.  The scary before and after photos of my head to will be added to the Grand Masters Running blog later in the week!

The second event coming up this week is the Running with the Bears 1/2 Marathon on Saturday.  My wife, Becky, and our dogs, Jackson and Scout, are driving north 7 hours to the little town of Greenville, California on the edge of the northern Sierras to participate in a small race dedicated to supporting the foster kids in that part of the state.  We are very impressed by the organization and mission of the organizers of this event as well.  Find out more at:  Running withtheBears.org.

Following Running with the Bears, I will be running the Chicago Marathon in October and the Santa Barbara Red Rocks Trail Marathon in November.  I’m excited to get started!