AC’s Avengers w/ ALSAC St. Jude CEO Richard Shadyac

When my wife first came to me with a goal of raising $100,000 for St. Jude I thought she was crazy.  I begrudgingly conceded to the goal but secretly didn’t want to disclose it to anyone for fear that we wouldn’t come anywhere near it.  Ultimately I decided that even if we fell fall short of our publicized goal we could still be proud of whatever total we ended up at.  As the final weeks of fundraising wrapped up, we began to see that raising $100,000 was a real possibility.  Imagine our surprise when it was announced at the St. Jude pasta party (the night before the race) that we had met our goal.  What a wonderful moment!

I have been asked on a few occasions how we were able to raise that much money.  Quite simply it is a testament to the kind and giving spirit our wonderful community of friends and family.  More importantly it is a testament to the wonderful work of St. Jude.  I simply don’t know where we would be without them.

PS – I’ve been given a new goal for the 2014 race.  It’s comically large.  Somehow I think we will make it.  See you next year!

Just wanted to pass along this article we wrote this week for the Huffington Post….

Last April I ran my first marathon at the St. Jude Country Music Marathon in Nashville to support kids fighting cancer and other deadly diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Truth be told, the running ended at about mile 13, when both of my legs suddenly started cramping.

Despite all of my training, I was relegated to a combination of jogging and walking for the remainder of the race. Admittedly, I was pretty discouraged as I walked injured, nearly 14 miles away from my destination.

Over the next few hours, as I proceeded ever so slowly toward the finish line, there was only one thing that kept me going — I knew that my oldest daughter Audrey would be there to greet me at the finish line.  Read More…

What an incredible week for AC and the Tough Kids and St. Jude.  We were able to raise nearly $13,000 this week and have raised our overall fundraising total to more than $36,000!!!!  I’ve alway thought our goal of $100,000 was a bit crazy but now I am really starting to believe!  In addition to that, we registered our 60th runner this week!  Thanks so much to everyone in our community who have supported us to this point.

Weeks until the race: 6
Total registered team members: 60
Total funds raised:$36,157
Overall team ranking: 1

The National media blitz (wink wink) continued this week as Audrey was featured on Live at Five at Four to promote AC and the Tough Kids and the upcoming race.  We would like to say a special thanks to WBIR for giving us the opportunity to share our story.

http://www.wbir.com/video/2219319970001/40053421001/Hospital-helping-little-girl-heal-

Only 7 more weeks until the race!  We’ve slipped to third place this week, but I know we’ve got big plans for the next few weeks.  Thanks again everybody for all of the great work and let’s have another great week!

Weeks until the race: 7
Total registered team members: 58
Total funds raised:$23,699
Overall team ranking: 3

We have an early leader for the most creative way to raise money for St. Jude – a dodgeball tournament.  Audrey’s uncle Kent will be putting on a 6 on 6 Dodgeball Tournament on Saturday, March 23 at Noon at the Emerald Ave Youth Foundation Gym in Knoxville.  Entry fees are $20 per player with all proceeds going to St. Jude.  The tournament will take place in a round-robin format, guaranteeing every team will get to play several games.  This is a great way to support AC and the Tough Kids and St. Jude.  We are going to have a blast for only $20 per person, all the while helping St. Jude continue thier incredible work.

To register, please contact Kent at kentcnc@yahoo.com or contact us at the AC and the Tough Kids Facebook Page.

It’s hard to belive that it is only 8 weeks until race day!  It’s been another good week this week with nearly $2,500 raised.  We have also continued to add runners with the total now at 58!  Thanks everybody for all of the great work and let’s see if we can’t take over that #1 spot this week!

Weeks until the race: 8
Total registered team members: 58
Total funds raised:$21,603
Overall team ranking: 2