A St. Patrick's Day Celebration...the Warrior Way!

St. Patrick’s Day weekend hosts hundreds of spring races all over the nation. Often the first weekend of enjoyable warm weather (at least for those of us in the north!), runners can jump start their running seasons with a race of their choice.  From 5K run/walks to full marathons, there is surely an event for everyone.  And green costumes are generally the requested attire – pull out that leprechaun gear and shamrocks!   

We have a large crew hitting NYC’s St. Patty’s Day celebration with the Half Marathon on Sunday the 18^th – please see Feb 28’s post!  We also have Team members who are going big and running the full Yuengling Shamrock Marathon on March 18.  Taking place in Virginia Beach, VA, this Shamrock Marathon is celebrating 40 years of Irish fun.  It’s needless to say that this race is hugely popular!  

Our Team Hope For The Warriors® jerseys will be seen amidst all the green (hopefully our Team members sport some green sweats, hats, socks...something to hold true to the spirit!).  We’d like to extend a huge shout out to Heather McNeil, Marlene English, and Donald Sills -- they are starting the marathon season early here in mid-March!  They made a good choice – hard to think of a more fun, light-hearted and celebratory marathon to start with :) 

Thank you Heather, Marlene, and Don -- we’ll be there with you in Irish spirit!!

Hitting the Streets of NYC

Team Hope For The Warriors® will be hitting the streets of NYC again just three months after we rocked the ING NYC Marathon on November 6, 2011.  Twenty-five Team jerseys will be sported among the 15,000+ runners on St. Patrick’s Day weekend in the Big Apple for the NYC Half Marathon.  Up from last year’s seventeen Team runners, our twenty-five Team registration filled in record time!  

NYC Half participants will be taken on a tour of Manhattan, starting in Central Park through Times Square, along the West Side Highway, and around the southern tip of the island to the finish at the South Street Seaport.   The World Trade Center sits just before the 12-mile mark; I hope Team members and all runners alike take this in stride (no pun intended :-P) and reflect on the monumental landmark.  Keep in mind the mission of Hope For The Warriors® - to ensure that the sacrifices of wounded and fallen warriors and their families are never forgotten nor their needs unmet – and specific to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The dependable spring weather and quick, entertaining course make this race an extremely popular kick-off to the running season – both for the running community in general and for Team Hope For The Warriors®!  Here’s who we will see in NYC on March 18:

Tim Arkell	Katherine Decker	James Lassner	Elizabeth Smith
Becky Banyasz	Cheryl Donnelly	Mara Lassner	Dennis Song
Kendall Bowman	Sean Donnelly	Christine Parr	Lucy Taylor
Richard Bryant	Michelle Fitzgerald	Scott Peterson	Khela Vazquez
Michael Burguieres	Tracy Henry	Paula Pou
Jose Chariez	Joe Jacovina	Colleen Schlachter
Will DeChamps	Kurt Kaehler	Henry Schilling

 

Looking forward to hearing about it!! And, of course, some great pics :)