Nearman’s farsighted goal: race across America to fight child obesity
Steve Nearman is an M45 middle-distance standout in Alexandria, Virginia, who writes a running column for The Washington Times. But that’s a sideline. His main gig is financial consulting (between training runs). Now he’s combined his loves with an ambitious fund-raiser that he calls TREK (Trans America Relay Embracing Kids). The event takes place in May 2007, so he’s giving y’all a long-distance heads up. I wish him (and his fellow runners) all the best.
Steve writes:
To all runners of all abilities:
Looking for an event about which you will talk for the rest of your
life?
Looking to make a huge difference by championing a cause about which
we all are very passionate?
In 2004 10 runners in their 40s and 50s completed TREK (Trans
America Relay Embracing Kids). As they ran, kids in classrooms,
playgrounds and physical education periods, followed their progress.
The involvement of the kids and their families raised more than
$300,000 for kids charities.
In May 2007, a similar trek across America will take place, from San
Francisco to the finish line of the Boston Marathon. The mission:
to §Support PE in schools and children’s health and the fight against
obesity and to draw attention to the need for a healthier America by
encouraging family fitness.
I am looking for people to join my team and/or to form teams of their
own. Basically, with 10-person relay teams, each runner would be
running about 500 miles in a month, either in one run a day or split up
over a couple or few runs per day. We will start in San Francisco, then
run through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, stopping at towns along
the way to promote healthy family lifestyles. Throughout this
fully-supported run, children in thousands of classrooms around the
country will be following us online and learning from their teachers
about the geography of the United States, history, and other topics
like nutrition and physical fitness.
TREK 2007 will have minimum of 20 runners (two teams of 10 have
already committed, one from Dave McGillivray Sports Enterprises and one
from Florida) who have agreed to raise money for youth causes. Each
team will keep 70% of funds raised for the youth programs of their
choosing and 30% will go to Running USA’s support of member youth
running and fitness programs. Support includes education for schools or
communities wanting to start or enhance a youth running and fitness
program, providing network opportunities for youth program directors
and youth fun run events, clearinghouse for information on bests
practices and successful programs and assistance obtaining resources
for youth programs.
There are many other details if you are interested. Email me at
steve@nearmanfinancial.com or call me at 703-683-4660 if you and/or
anybody you know may be interested. This is an experience of a lifetime
and I hope you can join me and the others to do this.
Steve Nearman
Alexandria, VA
M45
