Charlotte Marathon Relay and SPEED FOR NEED

Charlotte Marathon Relay and SPEED FOR NEED

On November 11, Four primary teams pushing three chariots and countless support PAX ran the Charlotte Marathon Relay.  Each leg was 4.2 to 6.2 miles and together covered the entire course.

Strong effort was put in by Tolkien and a crew to identify 14 kids with special needs to join us on the journey.  At each leg riders and runners were transitioned out (Except for Owen who got to double down on two legs!)

Team Fast Twitch:  Pop Tart, Gummy, Turkey Leg, Rachel, Rock Thrill, Tootie, Mermaid, Utah, Mr. Brady & Alf.  Riders:  JJ, Devon, Luke, Amelia, and Lucas.

Team Swift:  Nard Dog, Bratwurst, Depth Charge, Citgo, & Thin Mint.  Riders:  Jayson, Georgia, Kinzey, Sophie and Ava.

Team Metro:  Subway, 20/20, Gitmo, Nash, & Scabby.  Riders:  Ray-Ray, Andrew, Owen, Myles.

Moleskine:

I was nervous heading into race day.  The forecast a week out showed reasonably warm temps but as we got closer to race day it settled in to be low to mid 30 degrees for the entire race.  I was worried that parents would hesitate and pull out of the race, but not a single one did.  And 14 kids bundled up and smiled the entire race.  Along the way we got nothing but huge cheers from the crowd.  The kind of cheering I would expect to be normally reserved for those guys leading the marathon but, I don’t ever plan on being that close to the lead to hear it!

I also need to give a huge shout out to the parents of each of these kids.  They were all awesome to be around.  Such a positive and excited group of mom’s and dad’s who work so hard every day and night to raise these boys and girls.  Not to mention the mom of Jayson, Ray-Ray and JJ who is raising THREE awesome boys who started the race on leg one in 3 chariots side by side.

My M and 2.0’s came to the finish line with cheering signs for Lucas.  Randomly out of the crowd his mom comes up right beside my M and asks if we had seen the Chariot come through yet.  My 2.0’s turned to show her the signs with Lucas’s name on them and asked if that is who she meant.  Not only did they all get to see us arrive 10 minutes later, but Lucas’s sister was able to take the custom “Go Lucas” signs home with them.

T-Claps to Tolkien, Scabby and so many who came together to pull this off.  Logistics weren’t easy but so many played a part to make this a huge success and the biggest SPEED FOR NEED day yet in terms of ridership and kids and families impacted.  Not to mention the very fortunate honor it was for 20 PAX to push these kids.

Watch the video here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L1tI3UtqRg

Certainly there are plenty of other perspectives to share on the day.  Comment below!

-Alf