I never knew Chance when he was alive, but he has certainly touched me in a special way through his story.
When I found out I was deploying, I began to wonder how much time I would have to run. I knew I wanted to keep this stress-relieving activity in my routine. Then, some of my friends told me about 'satellite runs' in the desert. People were organizing races in Iraq and Afghanistan to coincide with a race back in the States (same date), getting official race t-shirts and essentially letting runners be a part of something back home even though they weren't there. How cool!
Of course when I got to Kandahar, at first I was 'too busy.' But as I participated in more and more organized runs, I realized it was possible and I really needed to do it....something to do outside of work. Otherwise, the work never ended. I tried to get some sponsors back home and didn't get a response. One of my friends back home even tried to help me out by offering to mail stuff for the race but with no response from sponsors, I kind of gave up.
Ironically enough, as I was doing a long 8 mile run around the base on a Sunday afternoon, a fellow runner who I had met during my travels to Kandahar but was in a different unit on the other side of base, ran up beside me. I was towards the end of my run and about to start walking...but he distracted me long enough to finish it up. One thing we chatted about was movies....somehow 'Taking Chance" came to mind and I asked him if he had seen it. He said no, so when I returned to work, I Googled the movie to get the link for him and ended up at the HBO site.
I browsed around for a while and noticed a link at the bottom of the page. 'Run 4 Chance.' Curious, I clicked on it. It was an HBO initiative to raise money for The Chance Phelps Foundation through running. And that is when I really learned about who Chance Phelps was and what his family has done to honor him and serve veterans and their families since his death in 2004. I was amazed with the story.
http://www.chancephelps.org/
There were other links on the page about organizing running events, but none of the links seemed active/up to date. I gave up again.
But the next day, I was still thinking ' how can I raise money for this foundation? How cool would it be if Kandahar did a 'Run 4 Chance' race?' I went back to the page and finally found a 'Contact' link. This brought me to a list of 2 individuals with email addresses. One was the webmaster. It didn't say who the other was. So I emailed him regarding my interest. He emailed me back right away. He was the Phelps family attorney, and immediately put me in contact with Gretchen Mack, Chance Phelp's mother.
From there, I emailed back and forth with her and the ball started rolling. I got approval through my chain of command and the base approval officials to hold the race. A friend suggested I check with the USO on base to see if they would sponsor it (mainly, the t-shirts). They jumped on the opportunity to support such a great cause. It all started falling into place. Members of my Sq really helped kick things off by sitting at the registration table in shifts, every day of the week. In the end, I had about 60 volunteers who helped prior to and on race day.
My 'Opening Remarks'
The Start
Crazy Marine who always won every race:-)
Our Shirt, MSgt Anderson (#107), who helped me get all of my volunteers!
Some enthusiastic, pumped up finishers!It got kind of crazy. It wasn't easy in such an already hectic environment. But on the first day of registration, we had already raised $1,700. I was so excited. In the end, we raised $5K.
I am proud of my deployment and what I did in support of all of my fellow members who were really fighting the war. I worked my a** off and lots of my Amn worked their a**** off and kicked a**. But the thing that gave me the greatest amount of fulfillment was raising money for a foundation that provides aid to military veterans and their families, and families of our fallen heroes. It truly was the best feeling I had during my time there.
I didn't know Chance, but he has forever changed me. Through his sacrifice. Through his heroism. Through his mother, a hero in my eyes for all that she does for others who have gone through the pain she has experienced. What she does for veterans who need support when they return home. It was an honor just to correspond with her and have her support in doing a Run 4 Chance. I hope to go to Wyoming and meet her one day.
When I look through pictures of Chance, it all seems more real to me. No, I didn't know him. But I think of every mother and father who has lost a child in this war. I think of what Gretchen is doing to help, in every way she can.
It has really been on my mind a lot. 16 May 2010 was an awesome day when 300+ runners ran 4 Chance. I would love to organize another Run 4 Chance next year here in Wichita, KS.
As good timing would have it, the other night I was watching the Emmy Awards intermittently as I studied and I tuned into a speech that tugged at this particular heartstring. George Clooney was awarded the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for 'having made a life-changing impact upon society.' As he closed he made a request to the viewers at home to 'keep the spotlight burning on the heartbreaking situations after the cameras go away.' While the context of his speech was primarily humanitarian disasters...it was a reminder for me of all of the the tragedies and heartbreak that is not paid enough attention. For me, military families who experience a loss are holding a special place in my heart and have been doing so since I opened my eyes several months ago. Now that the deployment is over and I'm back to not only a busy schedule but a more chaotic one as well, it is important to remember that families are still losing loved ones like Chance every day. It took a deployment to really feel what is going on...but I miss Chance, for his family. My heart breaks for them.
