The race is over! My 30th overall marathon, and my 12th year with Team In Training, are now behind me.
Because of the injuries, surgeries, 5 weeks with little training, etc., I expected to walk a lot today. I would have been satisfied with a time of 4 hours and 30 minutes, but I realized that could be an optimistic goal. Well, it turned out much better than I thought it would! Under ideal marathon conditions, I ran the entire course without walking once, not even in the water stops. My time was 3 hours, 49 minutes, and 35 seconds. That's far from my fastest time (3:20:24), but there was no way I thought I was going to come close to breaking 4 hours. Go to "My TNT Hero" page, and see the list of heroes I was running for today. I had each of their names on the back of my singlet. I was running in their memory, and for their families and friends--which means I had some extra help in being able to do what I did today. I also said a silent prayer during the race, asking for the strength to be able to keep running. I kept running.
I'm a little tired and sore, so that's about it for now...except I want to thank everyone who contributed to my fundraising campaign. We met our goal! See the "Fundraising Totals" page for the latest numbers, and the "Donors by County" page for the list of caring, generous people who supported this great cause. Once again, thank you!
Running for Heroes...
A bit cold before the race!
Running north on High Street.
Ahhh, it's over!
A couple of sore feet after the race!
Welcome to my site!
I am currently in my 12th campaign for The Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT) program. My
fundraising goal this year is $1600, and I need your help!
Please click on the How To Donate
tab in the
right sidebar for information on how to make a donation.
My main fundraising event the last four years has been the
"Rick Cooper Birthday Jump For TNT," a week-long skydiving
event at Skydive Greene County in Xenia, OH. Click on the
"Skydiving for TNT" tab to see about this year's event,
which was held from July 29 through August 4, 2006. You
missed a great time! Unfortunately, I didn't have as many
people skydive this year compared to the first three years,
so I still need to raise additional donations to meet my
goal. Again, I need your help! I belong to the Central Ohio
Chapter of Team In Training, and we represent a 38 county
area (see Donors by
County). If you live in one of
those 38 counties, please donate! If you don't live in one
of those 38 counties, please donate!
As part of my commitment to TNT, not only do I raise money
for the cause, I also run a marathon. I am currently
training for The Columbus Marathon to be held in Columbus,
Ohio, on Sunday, October 15, 2006. It will be my 30th
marathon. For the complete list of Marathons I've
Run,
click the tab on the right with the same name (see how easy
I make this for you!). You can also check out
My Running
Blog for updates on my
training. And finally, click My TNT Hero
tab to see why
I started raising money for TNT.
If you stopped by my site to get information about my
books, music, music consulting, etc., click on the
About Rick
Cooper tab. But while you're
here, please consider making a donation to The Leukemia
& Lymphoma Society's Team In Training (TNT) program!
For contact information or media inquiries, first click on
the Skydiving for TNT
tab, then
click on Media
Contacts.
Thanks for your visit!