Running for Walking

Again, sorry for the lack of updates but I’ve been working pretty much non stop with only two days of rest in the past five weeks. I’ve been in Charleston for a little over a week now. I got into town last Sunday directly after we wrapped on the short film “Jesus Maria”, which I was art directing. Literally 13 hours after wrapping on that film I left for Charleston to start work as an intern on “Army Wives”. Google it and check it out if you’ve never seen it. This marks my first “Major” TV/Film gig…….albeit an unpaid gig. The Film and TV world is the only industry that I can think of where you sort of have to “pay your dues” first. I can’t think of any other professions off the top of my head where you have to work for free for a while before you get paid. Breaking into this industry can be a difficult thing. Each production consists of a crew, and that crew is pretty much a very close family, and to be adopted into that family is not the easiest thing in the world. It really is a matter of who you know. Most jobs seem to come from your peers. The same people tend to work together on various projects. Once you work on on one project and do a good job, chances are someone form that production will hire you to work a future production. It’s like trying to board a fast moving train. Once your on you’re on, but it’s difficult to get on and once you’re off it’s difficult to get back on.

So yes, right now I am paying my dues, but I don’t mind at all. I am staying on the Isle of Palms, at a friend’s (Sam) family’s beach house. IOP is incredibly nice as is the house that I am staying in. I’ll post some pictures soon, but to give you some sort of idea, their kitchen is the size of half of my entire apartment. I can tell no lie, I love big kitchens. I’m so grateful to Sam’s family. They have shown me unprecedented hospitality. Actually I haven’t even met his family yet. They are pretty much letting a total stranger live in their house for a few weeks. The house is also completely stocked with everything you would need to live happily ever after. This is the note that Sam’s Mom Amy left for me. I found it rather humorous.

Of course I’m not going to drink you wine! I should buy you a bottle if anything!

Anyhow, I’m right near the beach, isolated from the rest of the world. It’s kind of nice. I really like Charleston. It’s a good soul recharging station. I actually have some tentative plans to go ahead and relocate down here provided that I can find the work. I have been trying to make the best impression that I can on Army Wives, in hopes of possibly securing a permanent position on the show, or at least making some connections and contacts for future work. Working on AW has been a great experience thus far. It’s very interesting to see how a “real” production (one that has loads of money) works. Everything moves very quickly, and everything is on a much larger scale that what I am used to. The sets that I have seen have been very impressive, unfortunately I haven’t gotten the chance to work in the Art Dpt. on AW yet, and that’s driving me a little crazy. Right now I’m just functioning as a PA (production assistant) and it’s just not enough for me. A PA is usually getting coffee, wrangling extras, passing out call sheets, running errands, etc… I’m not trying to knock PA work, at all. The PA’s are a vital part of any production, it’s just not for me. It’s not what I need. There is too much downtime and not nearly enough creativity involved. I love working, and what I do. I will work my heart out, and I know it sounds a little sick but I love being worked to death. It’s just who I am. I go absolutely crazy if I’m not busy all of the time, and thus I’m starting to lose it a little bit being a PA for over a week. I’m glad that I got the experience. Being on set and learning how everything operates has been very educational and helpful, but I’m really really really ready to get my hands dirty. It’s been killing me to see set dressers decorating school rooms, hospitals, kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms, etc… and not be in there helping. I’ve been trying to hang around Art Dpt. folk as much as possible, so hopefully in the next day or so I can move away from being a PA and get to where I belong.

Everyone that I’ve met and been working with has been really awesome. One guy, Spencer “Right said Fred” Jarivs, is also an NCSA alum. Also……wow that’s strange to say. He’s a really cool guy as is most everyone else. He actually tipped me off about this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie coming through town, so I’ve been trying to feel out that show and see if I can’t get on board as a set dresser or art dpt. PA. Anyhow, hopefully I’ll be able to find enough reasons to stay in Charleston because I really love it here. I know I’m kind of living the sweet life in an awesome house on the beach but I’ve been to Charleston many times and I always hate it when I have to leave.

I have of course been riding my awesome new Kona bike everywhere down here. This past Saturday I think I logged around 50-60 miles on it. I road from The Isle of Palms over to Folly Beach for the Army Wives Beach base. (I came in at just the right time on this show right?) Anyhow that was around 25 miles there and 25 miles back, but I got a bit turned so I’m sure I logged a few more. The beach bash was pretty cool, despite the monsoon that hit. I actually ended up hitting up this little get together later that night where there was a enormous slip and slide and a room where you could paint on the walls with black light paints. Random.

I will go into more depth and post more photos very soon. I’ve actually had to write this super fast just so I can get my six hours of sleep. Set call for me is 5:12 am. I’ve litterally been putting in between 12-16 hour days. Surprisingly I’ve gotten very efficient at running off of five hours or less sleep. I’m planning on riding my bike to work tomorrow and it’s about a 15 miles ride, which means I’ll have to leave about an hour and a half early, hence why I need to go to sleep now.

More details on the way as well as an update on the status and future of RFW. Just as soon as I get a moment to breathe.

-g

Where in the world have I been? Sorry I know I have been harder to find than Waldo at a Striped Shirt Convention. I don’t even know where to begin, but I guess I will start somewhere relatively near the beginning.

When last we left our hero he was scrambling to get school work done, graduate and “start life” so to speak. Well as I said I was drastically far behind in my work. I scrambled pretty much up until the end to get everything done. It included many sleepless nights. I really didn’t even have time to run. As it stands right now, I am drastically out of shape. Ok well….I guess for me I am drastically out of shape. I went down from running 40-50 miles a week on a regular basis to sneaking in a 5-8 mile run once a week if I was lucky. I wasn’t even able to hit the gym once all thru May! It was insane. I had so so much going on.

If you wan to take a look at everything that has kept me so busy head over to my web site with my portfolio and other fun stuff at www.glennpeison.com

So now as Hillary Clinton might say “The question is Where do we go from here?” Forward.

Again I reiterate, that RFW will not be over until I am standing in my front yard. Now with that said, it’s not going to happen when I want it to. When I first began this project a year ago I had the uber romantic idea of running off the stage at graduation. Sometime in mid February I knew that would not be possible. I had too much going on during that time, (graduation and jobs) and quite frankly I needed more time to train, plan, and fundraise.

Side note* I actually went as a Jedi to graduation, as evident by the photo below.

So, I decided to push the date back to September. This seemed like a good decision for more than one reason. The weather would be better, I wouldn’t be in such a crazy time in my life (hopefully), and I would have the summer to train and prepare.

From February to early April everything was going quite well. RFW was gaining momentum, the pickle pacer was coming together nicely, training was going great, the world was awesome. Then bam, I ran into brick walls, and had the rug pulled from under my feet. I was not able to get around the 501 3c process, nor was I able to make RFW a non profit organization. Then the Pickle Pacer was shut down by school officials. Basically the foundation that I had built for RFW was crumbling. Then school work came down like a hammer.

It was pretty much either Run, or graduate. What’s a Jedi to do?

Now school is over and I’m planning my next step. Right now I’m working on a really cool project for Habitat for Humanity. They are doing a 5 home building blitz in town and myself and Josh (again supporter of all of my crazy ideas) are working on doing a really nice documentary for them, complete with time lapse footage. That’s going really well. The footage looks awesome We’ve shot dozens of hours, and we are cutting together daily blogs, and one finished cut that they will be able to use for promotion later on. It’s going to look really professional, and hopefully it will gain us some notoriety, as well as Habitat gain support for future builds like this.

It has been crazy to watch 5 homes go up side side in 5 days. Truth be told they were really up in less than 24 hours. The footage will be posted on Habitat’s site soon and I will direct you to it when it is up. Cool.

I am also working on Art Directing a short film for Caroline Kava. IMDB her. She’s a well known actress and a faculty member at the school of Drama, at that school I used to go to in Winston Salem…..yeah…..

So I have both of those projects going, then on the 15th of June I am leaving for Charleston SC to work on Army Wives. Google it. It’s a lifetime series. I’m just an intern/PA but I’m really excited. I think it’s going to be an excellent opportunity to learn about TV production and hopefully I’ll make a good impression and work my way into the Art Department. I would not mind hanging around Charleston at all. It’s a beautfiul area, right on the coast. Great area for running and biking as well.

Ahh, speaking of bikes. Bam!

This is my sweet new Kona hybrid bike that I am getting from Mock Orange Bicycles. It’s the Kona Dew Plus. It’s a really nice mid range bike. It’s got disc brakes, pretty decent components, and a rock solid aluminum frame. I’m really happy with it. I’m looking it as a huge investment. With gas prices the way they and the way they are going (don’t kid yourself $5.00 gas will be very very real very very soon) I’m going to make my money back on this thing in a few months. I’m taking it with me to Charleston. I’m staying at a friend’s beach house, and from what he has told me, it’s about a 30 minute drive into downtown Charleston. So, I figure it can’t be more than 30 miles, and I can totally bike that every day to work. That will save me at least an hour of driving every day. That adds up to a ton of fuel, (especially with my gas guzzling truck) and many dollars.

So yes, Im busy as always. It’s how I live. Now where does Running for Walking go from here? Here are my thoughts.

I need to get my self settled first. I need to figure out where I’m going and find steady work and then start building up my base again. I’ve learned a lot over the past year and I know what to do and what not to do. I have some options for help with legal matters and I am going to follow up on all of those. I have put far far far too much work into this to let it fade away. I just have to get grounded first. I realize I’m going to be facing new challenges with not being in school.

It’s strange. Starting this project when I did, it was a bit of a catch 22. It was the best time to do it, and the worst time. On one hand I had the support of the school (sort of) I should say I had the support of some of the school. I did have trainers who worked with me, and I had an athletic center at my disposal, and just a lot of support in general, from faculty, staff, and friends alike.

On the other hand, I was in school! That meant I was going to be busy, and graduating no less. I am glad that I ptu as much work into it as I did. I made a huge amount of progess, and when I look back on everything I accomplished, I’m pretty proud of it, especially considering that this had been for the most part a one man show.

When I attack this thing again, it can’t be a one man show. I have to have a full dedicated team with me. Like I said I have a lot more planning to do, and this going to be harder than I ever thought it would be. At the same time, it’s going to be grander, and more rewarding that I ever thought possible. I will do this run, all 500 miles of it. My route might have to change depending on where I end up at, but I will be running to Ohio.

I will be updating the site on a more regular basis now, but not with the frequency of when RFW was in full swing and so much was happening. I will most likely post a blog per week. And as things progress and I get my life figured out, RFW will rise again, and I will be more determined than ever to see this happen.

That’s where I’m at. That’s where I’m going. I thank everyone for their support and I promise I will not let you or myself down.

Sorry that there haven’t been any updates on the goings on with RFW. I am very wrapped up with school stuff. I have to have everything done in less than two weeks so I’m in a mad dash for the finish line. I just want to assure everyone that this project is not over. It won’t be over until I am standing at in my front yard in Ohio, exhausted and exhilerated. I don’t do failure, and I don’t quit. I will see this through absolutely. I have a great deal of re planning and re strategizing to do, which I will get on top of immediately following completion of my school work. Thank you so much for everyone’s continuing support toward RFW. I will be back with more in about a week or so.

Thank you to everyone who has responded to my call for help and advice. I’ve had a lot of good and promising suggestions come my way and I will be following up on all of them. I hadn’t really realized how much running was taking away from my school work but it suddenly hit me a few days ago that I am way behind in what I need to have done in the coming weeks. No worries, I’m very resilient and I will be able to catch up quickly I think. I’m already well on my way.

I think I may have given the impression that I was just about ready to throw in the towel with RFW. The thought has entered my head and I’ve certainly felt like doing so, but I will not do that. Not ever. I will make this work. It’s obviously going to take even more work and planning and re planning than I thought even after doing this for nearly a year. It’s all a part of the process. I will not let challenges, barriers and obstacles stand in my way. I will find a way. Like I said though, school is intense at the moment so if you have offered advice and I haven’t gotten back to you, that is why.

I also heard some news from my mother’s church in Ohio. It seems that St Jacobs is all about supporting RFW but their insurance company is preventing them from doing so. Apparently their insurance company has an issue with my corporate sponsors. They are concerned that if a corporation makes a donation and I do something with the money that company does not like (like buying crack cocaine and ak 47’s) that they come back on St. Jacobs. Is this ludicrous? It doesn’t make sense at all, especially since I know this type of thing has been done before. I will be getting in touch with the reverend at the church to discuss this further but this is nuts isn’t it? Fear, fear fear. My mother is also pursuing another church in town. We’ll see what happens.

On a completely unrelated note, a few days ago the coordinator for the internship program at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences called me to tell me that I had been selected as a finalist for the Art Direction internship program. That’s wicked cool. Google the ATAS if you haven’t heard of it. In short, it’s one of the more prestigious programs you can get accepted to. I have go through an interview process next, but I should have final word in a couple weeks on whether or not I’ve been accepted.

Alright, again thank you for the encouragement and suggestions. Keep them coming.

The following e-mail is the exact same post from the most recent blog entry on the RFW site, just in case you have already been to the site and read it.

For the first time, in a very long time, I find my self at a total loss. I honestly don’t know which direction to go or what actions to take. That said, I’m turning to you for counsel and advice. There is much to blog about so take a deep breath and stretch a bit before you start. In all seriousness I would really appreciate any words of wisdom or suggestions that you could share with me.

Over the past week I have run into several more brick walls. Now, I am all for meeting challenges that arise. After all, that’s been what this project has been all about from the beginning. When I started Running for Walking nearly a year ago I knew there would be obstacles to over come, but I’m human, contrary to what some may believe, and I can only run into brick walls so many times before it hurts to much to do it again. Over the past two weeks I, and Running for Walking, have been dealt serious blows, to which I am unable to find a solution for.

The latest of these blows deals with, yet again, obtaining 501 3c status. In the simplest of terms having this status makes your organization an official non profit entity, complete with a tax ID number, thus making contributions tax exempt. This is pretty much a necessity if you are approaching, as I am, businesses and corporations for financial support. As is true with nearly anything involving paper work and the government, the 501 3c process is vastly complex, expensive, and lengthy. Going through this process is not something the average person, who is not learned in non profit matters, could handle. It more or less requires having a lawyer type person to handle everything, and the process can drag on for months at a time. Clearly you can see why Running for Walking was not able to obtain this status, though I did try. I actually spoke with a not for profit professor at Salem College here in Winston, and he actually advised me to steer away from becoming an official non profit organization. So what is one to do? Well, one tries to get around it of course.

A few weeks ago, someone, who I will leave anonymous, offered up a brilliant suggestion. Run the money through a church. Any church, by default, is a non profit organization. By filtering the money through a church I would be able to pull on larger corporate sponsors in addition to individual donors. Others, including this person have had success by doing this, so it’s proven to work.

I immediately jumped on this idea and had my mother get in touch with her church in Ohio, St Jacobs United Church of Christ. I attended this church in my youth as well. After a few weeks and a few phone conversations things looked to be moving along. Two days ago my mother called me to inform me that the church was not going to be able to do as other churches had done. This was really going to solve quite a few problems. I already have a few corporate sponsors lined up, and I was just waiting on getting an account set up through the church. It seems that’s not going to happen now, and I am at a loss as to what to do next. I’m mentally exhausted, and I feel like I’ve exasperated all options. I’m frustrated beyond anything. The wind was been taken out of my sails. My mom made a comment the other day that she was worried about me because she has never heard such utter total defeat and disappointment in my voice before.

I do not understand why it is so hard to do something so good. Like I said I’m all for meeting challenges, but when it starts feeling like people are working in direct opposition to what I’m trying to achieve…. I mean… I don’t know. I quite frankly don’t understand why this could not go through with the church. Apparently I am getting a letter from the church explaining everything. Actually, let me go check my mail box real quick…..brb…..nope nothing. I should mention, well actually I think I did, that it was my mother who informed me of the disappointing news from the church, and not anyone from the church itself. I’m interested in finding out the reasons behind the decision, but my initial reaction is that whatever reasons they are, they are nothing more than excuses. My experiences over the past two weeks have lead me to believe that people are very willing to help out a good cause, so long as it is easy to do so and requires no extra effort on their part. Does that sound cynical? I’m really not a negative cynical person, but I can’t help but feel that way when it feels like I’m surrounded by it. I know I’m generalizing, I’m just trying to make a point. It just sounds like the same thing I heard from those at NCSA who shut down the pickle pacer. No. Nope. It can’t be done. Nothing can be done. It’s impossible. Eh? Of course it’s not impossible! That’s absurd. These kinds of things have been done before. Races are held on campuses across the globe every year. True maybe we didn’t follow ALL of the protocols, but we certainly weren’t underground about it. It’s a learning process and we put an unbelievable amount of hard work and energy into this event and instead of trying to make it work they just shut it down? What kind of attitude is that? Is that the kind of attitude they want to promote to the students at NCSA? Sorry I know I’m going off on a tangent. Again I think it all comes down to what is easier. In this case no was an easier answer than yes. Yes, in both situations (the church and the Pickle Pacer), would require extra effort. Phone calls would have to be made, new paperwork filed, perhaps even a few favors called in. In short more work. People are afraid. Afraid of more work, afraid of being sued, scared, scared, scared.

I understand that NCSA, St, Jacobs, and any organization for that matter has to be protected. Unfortunately we live in a world where being brought to court on the most miniscule of matters is a very real possibility and so multiple levels of protection have to be in place. But that’s why there are waivers. It makes zero sense, especially in the case of St Jacobs. They are at no risk. All they would be doing is accepting a few checks from low to mid sized corporations and writing me 2-4 checks when it comes time for me to purchase everything that I will need for the run. What is the problem? I don’t see how they could be held accountable for anything. Besides, I’m the one who is running! Why in the world would I take any legal action against them? Even if this were a possibility, WAIVER! WAIVER WAIVER WAIVER! You mean to tell me that nothing like this has been done? That the answer is simply no? I doubt it. No was the easier of the two answers. I say this because I know people who have done this before. Thus I know it is possible.

I’m venting I know, but at the same time I’m being honest. I’m plain frustrated, and this is where I turn to you.

I do not want to accept No, like so many other have, but without a tax ID number I can not bring on corporate sponsors, thus I would have rely on individual donors to cover the cost of the actual journey. This number would be around $4,000 dollars. I want to be able to donate as much as possible to the Cleveland Clinic of course, which is why I need corporate sponsors to cover expenses, and that is why I need to be connected to a non profit entity.

So what should I do? I’ve put a year of my life into this. It’s very difficult to put into simple terms what it has taken to get to this point, so I will not even attempt to. I can’t simply call it quits, but it seems like this has to be re worked from the ground up. My only other option is to look elsewhere (where I don’t know) to become affiliated with a non profit organization such as another church. This doesn’t seem likely, since I have no connections to any churches in the area. I’ve said this before, I’m not a religious person. Though I feel the overall aim and goal of the church is to good, and spread hope. This is exactly what I am trying to do, thus we are on the same path. The only other option that I see before me is to press on. I will have to push harder to raise enough money to cover expenses and still be able to make a substantial donation to the Cleveland Clinic. I can continue to solicit businesses, but it is very unlikely that they will be able to make a financial contribution without RFW being 501 3c.

I’m truly stuck. I know I can’t just stop. That would kill me. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. So what’s next? It’s obvious this most likely won’t be happening in September at the very least. I just wasn’t able to secure the support I need fast enough. This is not a project that I can do on my own. I’m not giving up, nor will I ever, as it would be easier than moving forward. But I am at a loss as to what to do next?

S.O.S.

Please leave me a comment, write me an e-mail, give me a call, write me a letter, send me a message through morse code, send up smoke signals, whatever you prefer. I know there are many many people who are behind this %100. Truth be told, there are far more supportive people and organizations than not. How can I can get over the hurdle of 501 3c?

Thank you
-glenn
runningforwalking@gmail.com
(330) 881 9416

Sorry for the lack of posts, but the past week has been too crazy. Here’s a snipet from my Icalendar as proof.

Lots has happened, in the past week, a lot of which, I’m sorry to report has been negative. I will elaborate on everything when I have time to do a complete post this weekend.

Just wanted to post a quick line to let you know that new stuff is on the way.

……That was interesting. I just got back from a long late night “therapy run”. It’s about 5am right now. Over the past few days I’ve been having a very difficult time coming to terms and dealing with the Pickle Pacer being canceled. Though, you may get a different story if you talked to some people around here. I’ve been told by many people that the way I have been handling this unfortunate situation has shown that I have strong character and strength. Debbie actually said here respect for me was taken to a whole new level. I appreciate all those comments but truthfully it’s a facade…..all be it a good one. I’m furious. I’ve been so angry I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m sure I owe a few people apologies for being short with them or snapping at them. I don’t think anyone fully grasps how important this race was to me, and everyone who was supporting it. It’s just unreal how easy it was to end something that took so much effort to create. It was just gone in the blink of an eye. It’s not right. I’ve had to go around and town and collect all of the brochures and posters that were distributed. That’s been very painful. Every where I go people have been so disappointed at the news of the cancellation. We had a great number of people planning to run this thing and now it’s not happening. Actually many of the places I went to were out of brochures! It was going to be a really successful event and would have been nothing but good for RFW and for NCSA. I really appreciate everyone who has been giving me ideas to find a way to make this work, but I can’t hang on to hope. It’s just killing me. Believe me, of anyone, I would fight for this thing to the death if there was at all any chance of it happening. But I know it’s not going to and it’s better for me to just move forward.

Moving forward is exactly what I did tonight. I haven’t had a chance to go on a nice long since I got the news of the race being shut down so I’ve had all this negativity bottled up in me with no way to let it out. I don’t deal with anger well. I’m angry that I’m angry. I don’t scream, and break things. My coping strategy is to take it out on the pavement. There was an ultimate frisbee game tonight which I was thankful for. It was a great way to expell some of that energy. I played hard the entire time, but our team still lost twice. Whatever, it was still a good game. After the game I still didn’t feel like I had done enough. I only had my water bottle with me, so I ran home snagged my camel pack and ipod, headed out the door, and took off towards Ohio. I followed the route I will be taking out of Winston in September.

It was an interesting evening. I knew part of the route leading out of Winston wasn’t in the safest of neighborhoods, but I honestly didn’t care. I’ve run through scary sections of town before at night so away I went. There really weren’t a whole lot of people out and about. I ran past a night road construction crew who gave me some bewildered looks. I waved and kept on going. As I got into the heart of the scariest section a car drove by and someone waved at me. I had no idea who it was but I waved back. Then the car turned around and eventually pulled up next to me. It turns out the guy (Kevin) who was driving actually mistook me for someone else. I guess he must know some people who run with camel packs in shady areas at 2 am on a regular basis. Anyhow we actually struck up a conversation for about 10 minutes and it turns out that he’s a really awesome guy. He’s a physician of sorts at…….duh I forget which hospital. My short term memory sucks. Actually the only reason I remember his name is because he just called me like 30 minutes ago to make sure that I got home safe. He was worried that I had been shot or something. Anyhow, as he talked on the side of the road, I told him that I was taking out some frustrations and let him in on the jist of what was going on. He informed that I was running through a really unsafe area especially at night. I made the joke that I was just waiting for someone to come up and mug me and that I hoped that they stretched. He made the point that it’s more likely that someone would just shoot me. Anyhow he was just expressing some motherly concern, which speaking of mothers, I’m sure mine is picking up the phone right now to lecture me on the dangers of running through high crime areas. Anyhow we chatted for a bit more about RFW, exchanged contact info and went out seperate ways.

It was only just a few minutes after he left that I heard an alarm go off. I looked behind me and I saw a few guys run out of a gas station store and jump into a car and take off. Police sirens soon followed. I just kept running. I did opt to find a different route back home though. So yes, I pretty much beat my self into the ground tonight. Between frisbee and running I think I logged around 20-21 miles. Not sure exactly. I didn’t really look at my watch ever, I just kept running until I felt like I had gotten everything out that I needed to. On the way back home I did take a bad step with my fight food, go figure, so I will be sure to hit the ice bath tomorrow.

In summary, physically this probably wasn’t the best idea. Emotionally, and physcologicaly it was very effective.

On Monday I have a meeting with Suzanne….Mills? Sorry there’s my memory again. I know her first name is Suzzanne. She works in development at NCSA and she is the one that I have been suggested to go to about formulating a plan for a different event to replace the 5k. Really, too much work has gone into this to have it been for nothing. So, I am done being angry and dwelling on the negative. I think I have sufficiently dealt with it. I am focusing on the positive and working to make something else happen on May 17th. I will be back with details on what that something is.

Yeah….you guessed it. The Pickle Pacer has been officially shut down. This comes from higher powers at NCSA. Apparently our committee did not follow all of the proper protocols or get the “right” people involved with the race, consequently it has been canceled. As you can imagine I’m a little down about this. I was notified just today as I was registering people for the race at the Student Commons. I’m shocked. I thought we had gone through all the right steps and taken all the right actions but it seems not. Basically it adds up to a bunch of legal issues that “they” say can not be overcome. I met with a few people today who were involved in making this decision to hear the reasoning behind it. The jist of it it that NCSA can not be officially tied in with this event due to liability issues, which again I thought were squared away. I offered a few possible solutions, none of which will work apparently. No one person is to blame here, though I accept ultimate responsibility for the way this project has turned out. Hundreds of hours and dollars were put into this event, and it breaks my heart that it’s not going to happen. However that said, “Things turn out the best for people who make the best of the way things turn out”. Quitting and giving up are words that utterly foreign to me and I refuse to let all of our hard efforts be in vain. We are meeting next week to discuss what can be done to revamp/rework this event. We still try to have some sort of event that day that will not produce any legal snags.

Running for Walking is, and will ever be, moving forward. I am still waiting on word from St Jacob’s church on using their tax ID number, and I’m hopeful that I will hear some positive news from them.

I apologize to everyone who has already registered for the race. You will receive a full refund and I will be in touch with you about that. It’s a terrible shame. We had a lot of interest being generated not to mention corporate sponsorship. It could have been a really great thing for RFW and the School, but alas it’s not happening and I will not focus on the negative. Hopefully this will serve as the groundwork/learning experience for someone to make this event happen next year.

Thank you once again for everyone’s continuing support. This project will not fail.

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Things are well with RFW and the Pickle Pacer. Word had spread quite quickly around town about the race. Everywhere where I have dropped off brochures people have been snatching them up. Tomorrow I will be at a booth at NCSA promoting the race and registering students. It looks like we are going to have a good bit of support from the faculty as well. At the end of the year the film school has this two week period called intensive arts. Basically over those two weeks, students watch loads of movies, attend workshops, travel, and loads of guest artists visit the campus. Apparently our dean, Jordan Kerner, was looking for some sort of physical activity to work into intensive arts. Convenient that the race falls directly in that time period. We are trying to get faculty to register for the race, or sponsor a student to run if they would rather not run themselves. So yes I will be talking up the pickle pacer at school tomorrow. Oh, and Frank Adamek will be there with me. Frank is a crazy animation student. He’s a super high energy positive guy, and he’s all about this race so he agreed to come be a cheer leader and get people to sign up. I think Spencer is also going to be there.

In speaking of Spencer, he was able to get some goods such as Race Clock, Gatorade Coolers, etc… from Off ‘N Running for our race. I think he has a relationship with the people at that store and they were kind enough to donate some supplies. Tomorrow I also have a meeting with the student life staff. They are going to be working to get student involvement form everywhere on campus, not just the film school. I will be showing them the RFW promo video and just talking for a bit about the project, how it started, where it’s at, and where it is going.

Tomorrow I should hear back from St. Jacobs on using their Tax ID number. It seems like the majority of the church members were behind the idea, so I think that will go through.

This past Saturday I received an e-mail from Kathryn Mobley at WFDD (NPR) which I was pumped about. She is interested in doing a story on RFW after the May 6th state primary. Awesome.
I also met with Marla Carpenter a few days ago. She works in the Public Relations department at NCSA. She was really awesome, and very interested/impressed with RFW. She is going to work up some press releases for the local media, make some phone calls, in short she is going to work her PR magic to further promote RFW.

Trainings is still going well. No injuries to report. I really really need to update the running log on the site. I find myself busier and busier these days, but I will do that soon so you can see what kind of miles I’m logging these days. My legs feel great as does the rest of me.

It looks like my parents are going to be in town the day of the Pickle Pacer. I think it will be really great to have them here the day of the race. Hopefully we will have some news coverage present, especially since my dad will be present. Ah yes and there is now a link the pickle pacer site at the top of the RFW page.

Alright that’s all I have for now. Please continue to spread the word and encourage your friends and family to donate to RFW. Every single dollar counts and will make a difference. Remeber you can donate through pay pal or by sending in check or cash donation. Instructions for that are on the “Sponsorship & Donation” page.

Thanks

This week was been fraught with successes and disappointments. Firstly, RFW got it’s first official corporate sponsor, Beaufurn llc. Beaufurn is a very succesful designer furniture supplier here in Winston Salem. I interned with them as a graphic designer during the summer of 2007. I’ve kept in touch with everyone there, and have taken on little free lance projects from them every now and then. I visited their office this past Friday with a sponsorship packet. They seemed very impressed with RFW and did not hesitate to offer their support. It is of course greatly appreciated.

The Pickle Pacer continues to move forward, however I made a mistake with the brochures.

If you look at the registration form on the brochure you might notice that is lacking…..everything. There is only a spot for a signature accepting the waiver. There is no where for other information such as First & Last name, Age, gender etc…. I do not know how this was overlooked but it was. It wasn’t even me that caught it. I was talking with Joe Lopina, assistant dean and animation profressor at NCSA, and he pointed it out. Joe is also an asistant Dean and deeply involved in student affairs. He has been my point of contact for trying to get the faculty involved in the race. Anyhow, I was giving home some brochures to take to his next faculty meeting so he could talk race up a bit, and he kindly pointed out my oversight. Oi. To be fair, there were many people who were involved in making this brochure, so I suppose it wasn’t soley my fault. Anyhow what’s done is done. All of the brochures are already printed, and many of them distributed. We can’t print more, so my solution was to print up small inserts with the rest of the necessary information and staple them to the brochures. So I have been going around town to everywhere that I left brochures and correcting them. Yeah, that’s been fun.

In other disappointing news my grant from the Seman’s Art Grant fund was not approved. A disappointment to be sure, as that money would have been a tremendous help. All well it just means that I have more work ahead of me in getting expenses covered. Wachovia also called me this morning and unfortunately they are not going to be able sponsor RFW. The person I spoke with was very nice and sounded genuinely disappointed that they wouldn’t be able to. He said that if it were any other year that it probably could have happened. I guess the banks aren’t having a terrific year. The economy isn’t so hot right now so that doesn’t surprise me.

Something angered me today. I stopped off at health services at school for an ice bath and on my way I walked by the cafeteria and I noticed that one the pickle pacer posters had been removed from a bulletin board and in it’s place were an assorted bunch of xerox ads promoting other goings ons at the school. The poster wasn’t even moved, it was just taken down entirely. I thought that was pretty rude. These posters were not cheap and it had only been up for a week. What gives someone the right to take it down? They are really nice full one sheet posters and someone just took it upon themselves to remove it. I realize it is 11×17 so it takes up some space, but just move it, don’t take it down all together. I don’t know who removed it but I’ll do some snooping. I don’t think I violated any sort of rule in posting it up, but perhaps I did and that’s why it’s gone. I can’t imagine what rule I would have broken though.

Anyhow it’s just been a frustrating past couple of days. On a lighter and more positive note, Ultimate Frisbee has started back at NCSA. Hands down, best, and funnest organized sport. I’m a tad rusty so I’m been playing pretty poorly but it’s been great to be playing again. I’ve been playing ultimate at the school since first year. Honestly my lower calves are kind of killing me, which is why I went for an ice bath. When I’m playing frisbee I don’t have my good running shoes, or my orthotics so I’m not sure if my sore b/c of not wearing my orthotics, or if it’s just because I’m not used to quick sprints, and pivoting and stoping and going, etc… I think from now on I am going to slip my orthotics into my shoes that I play frisbee in.

I still don’t have word yet from my St Jacobs on using their tax ID number, but I should hear something within a few days.

We have our next Pickle Pacer meeting tomorrow, and I also have a meeting with Marla Carpenter, who works in the marketing and publicity area for NCSA. I’m sure she will be very helpful in promoting the Pickle Pacer and RFW.

Alright hopefully I will be back soon with more positive news.