Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold

Hey, remember when this used to be about running? Me neither! 

But, today I have a good reason to refocus on the Running part of Running [My Mouth]. A small group of us, along with hundreds of thousands of others around the world, ran in honor of Sherry Arnold. Facebook and the blogs I follow are full of posts about all kinds of runners, walkers, non-runners, not-even-walking-yets, and everything in between stepping out for Sherry today. I recommend you click on Shut Up and Run's blog and check out her posts today and in the coming days. Just SO much warmth and love from around the world. People, in general, are just plain awesome.

Myles, Tom, Wade, Beth, Beverly, Mandy, John, Megan & Itty Bitty Baby Sydney all snuggled up in the front pack.

Megan offered to take a picture with me in it. Neat how that Big Old Sweatshirt camouflages Baby TOP, huh?

At the start of the walk/run we actually bumped into 3 seriously Badass Mother Runners who were doing a 14-miler. They read about the run in my letter to the editor and their plan was to get to our meeting place at 10AM. They were a little behind schedule so they missed our start. But... it was very cool that they made the effort to join our Mighty Band!

Tom, Mandy & John all ran for an hour (the former 2 are training for a very hilly Big Lake1/2 marathon and the latter 1 is training for a Tough Mudder). The rest of us walked. I managed to only need ONE pee break. (I cleverly planned our route to go by my church which has unlocked doors and clean bathrooms all the time! I am going to call it the E-pee-scopal Church from now on, I think! Ahhhhh....)

The bad news is that I feel a little weepy that I can't be out there acting like a Real Mother Runner right now. The good news is that the fire is still in my belly to get back at it as soon as possible.

Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold: Wolfeboro, NH

So. I'm a liar. I said I was not going to blog tonight (Tuesday). I'm pooped. BUT, I wanted to get a letter to the editor off to the local papers in hopes that it might be in Thursday's edition. So, yes. I'm a liar, because I said I wasn't going to blog tonight... but MOSTLY, I'm LAZY... because I'm basically just pasting my letter to the editor here and counting it as my post about the Sherry Arnold run. (I'll include a link at the bottom so you won't have to email me to get more information...) 

Again, sorry for the lying and the laziness... but I'll fool ya because I won't schedule this to post until Wednesday morning. Ha!

To The Editor:

On the morning of Saturday, January 7, 43-year-old Montana resident Sherry Arnold went out for a run and never returned. This small town mother, runner, and teacher was abducted and killed. Her body has not been located. 

As a small town mother, runner, and (former) teacher myself, I couldn’t help but think: “That could have been me… I have to do something!” Activity on social media sites has proven what I already suspected: my feelings are shared by thousands around the country and around the world.

To that end, Sherry’s cousin, Beth Risdon, of Denver, Colorado, has organized a “Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold”. On Saturday, February 11, worldwide group runs are being organized. Events are in the works from  Sherry’s hometown of Sidney, MT to Sidney, Australia and everywhere in between.  As Beth wrote on her blog, “Out of something tragic and horrific has come this powerful force of goodness and positive energy. We will make the earth move a bit on February 11 as we lace up our shoes and GO for Sherry.”

Locally, a group of runners and walkers will meet at 10AM in the parking lot of the Kingswood Arts Center, don our "race" bibs (available online) and spend an hour celebrating Sherry’s courage, strength and grace. (I will provide suggested routes but this is NOT a road race so there will be no official "support" for participants.) At 11AM we will regroup in the parking lot and relocate to a local establishment (TBD) for lunch, drinks and additional fun.

I hope many local runners and walkers will join us. Athletic prowess is not mandatory; good humor and heart is! For more information on this or any of the Sherry Arnold runs, or, for web links to donate to the fund for Sherry’s children, please contact me at pheebzmail@roadrunner.com.

Even if we usually run by ourselves, this is a great opportunity to know that we never run “alone”.

Sincerely,

Phoebe VanScoy-Giessler

Mirror Lake

This is Beth, holding a few race bibs made for the event(s) on February 11th.

Here's a link to Beth Risdon's blog... it will get you to the donation page and to lots more information about Group Runs around the globe:

http://www.shutupandrun.net/2012/01/going-global.html