Well, I have to be honest.  I was so focused and had gotten used to running anywhere and everywhere last year that when I hit the 30th race, I was faced with the question…”What will I do now?”  The reply that followed in my head…”Get back out there because people still need you!”

That’s right…I’ve teamed up with Mobile Meals of Toledo again for 2016!  While I won’t be doing 30 races, I will be doing some very special runs and a few are what I’d like to call “Bucket List” runs!  The first on my must do races will be in Asheville North Carolina!  Karla and I will be traveling to The Biltmore and running on the absolutely beautiful grounds of this still private home!  If you’ve never been there…it’s a must see!  This will be the very first Half Marathon on the grounds!!  They’ve run Full Marathons there but never a Half.  Being a part of something so big and beautiful makes it extra special!  I will be wearing my New Colors!  The Blue Run Zombie Run shirts are done and I’ll be scooping them tomorrow!  White lettering on these awesome blue shirts and the Zombie will be Pink!  Anyone that’s been following knows that I have a special spot in my heart for the many Pink Warriors out there that have been fighting cancer or have lost the battle.  I feel it’s my place to honor them with the color and carry them along on each and every run!

The other thing I’ve decided to do was run 1,000 miles for 2016!  Just another challenge to keep my body going and my head in the game!  I’ll snatch a nice shirt when I reach the miles and some cool bling!  Always fun!

(It’s true.)

The highlights this year…well…The Glass City Marathon and Half Marathon will be celebrating it’s 40th Anniversary!  I absolutely had to sign up for this one!  It’s my home town and the streets of Toledo call to me! So look out for this race on April 24, 2016!!

The race I’m the most excited about for 2016…Ragnar Chicago!!!  I’m teaming up with a group of runners from all different areas, working from two vans and running some 200 miles from Wisconsin farm country all the way to Chicago big city lights!!  It’s a non stop run and each runner hops in and out of the van based on a schedule and runs!  I have a 6 mile hop, then later on a 4 mile and finish with yet another 6 mile run!  I’m told it’s one of the greatest runs you’ll ever do so I’m totally stoked for this!  I’ll be spending time with amazing, friendly and super fun people during this time and look forward to strengthening our running bond!  Wow…just Wow!!  So ready!!

I’m part of a couple great groups of people (The Toledo Road Runners) as well as an Ambassador of (The RunJunKEes)!  Both are full of wonderful, supportive, hardworking people!  They help to keep me moving even when I may not feel like doing so.  I highly recommend jumping into a group like these for support and motivation!  Both of these groups are super with giving back and/or paying it forward!  Something very important to my soul.

I will be asking for help along the way to further help Mobile Meals of Toledo!  If you want to do a one time donation or per race or hell…even for my miles!  I’d be so grateful for any help and I know that Mobile Meals would love it as well.  They work hard to keep seniors in their home, remaining independent and eating healthy meals!  These people love the workers and volunteers that deliver to them.  For some it may be the only person that comes to see them during the day.  Donations can be made on my website at runzombierun.net.  All monies go directly to Mobile Meals…I receive absolutely nothing but the satisfaction of knowing that we’re making a difference and taking care of others!

I promise to get on and blog on a more regular basis again!  I took a little break to get my life back into order…lol!  Never seems to be enough time in a day!  I’ll keep pushing and racing to make the world a better place!  Send any positive mojo my direction for a healthy 2016!  Maybe a little extra for a P.R. at the Glass City!  Keep moving, walking, running, biking, whatever it takes…get it done!  I’ll see you on the road!

~Zombie~

Well we made it!  All 30 races are in the books!  What a ride it has been!  I set all new records for myself during the last few half marathons and had the time of my life getting there!

So many people that have helped me through this and stood by my side.  So many of you have followed, cheered and even been inspired!  I can’t thank you enough.  The donations to a wonderful group (Mobile Meals of Toledo) have been just WOW!!  When I took this challenge on, I never thought that it would touch so many and make such a difference.  Truly humbling.

The Run Zombie Run Virtual 5K (Revenge of the Silva) was a blast to get together and it never would have happened if…Tom Silva would not have made such a big deal about my first race…lmao!!  Thanks Tom!  He’s the reason for the Revenge of the Silva part of the race name.  Most importantly though…Mathews Ford of Oregon stepped up and paid for all of the shirts that were sent out to your wonderful people!!  That’s no small nut!  They covered the cost of the shirts and printing and were happy to do so!  Please take a moment to thank them!  Whether it be by phone, email, or even stop in and say thanks!  Do some business with them if you’re in need!  Great people there!

The artwork for the shirt was donated by an amazing artist (Sailor Woody…Robert).  He’s located at Infinite Art Tattoo Studio here in the Toledo area.  “Real Good Tattoos”  Those are his words…lol!  Great guy!  See you soon Woody!

Jupmode!  The place to go to get shirts done!  They’ve handled all of my race shirts through the entire year and also printed up the 5K Zombie shirts!  They’re on the web, Facebook, Instagram…you name it!  Do some business with them!

My family, friends, co-workers…what can I say…you’ve seen me through everything!  Being tired, sore, battle scarred, pretty much everything!  Nothing but positive things came from all of you…and I thank you for that!  It means the world to me to know that I’m loved and supported.

So where do we go from here?!  That was the first thing that popped into my head when I made it across the finish line of the 30th race!  Forward for sure!  I have plans to do bucket list type races in 2016!  Some destination runs, some of my favorite local runs and one big relay race with 11 of the craziest runners ever!!  I’ve committed to Mobile Meals of Toledo for 2016!  They still need help from the Zombie and I’m down with that!  I’m already thinking of what color the race shirt will be for this next year and what other crazy things I can get into!

I’ll be putting a challenge out there for everyone in 2016.  I’m going to get my gym mojo back along with my running.  I want to PR for a Half Marathon and have my sites set on 1:45 for a time!  That would be a huge step and I think with some strength training and good luck, it can be done.  I’m planning on running the Glass City Half Marathon in April!  This will be the 40th Anniversary for this event so it’s a must do!  I’d love to see my fellow Zombies get involved with this in some fashion.  They offer a 5K as well so don’t be shy!  If you don’t have an interest in that, come out and offer to volunteer!  They can always use people to work on the route, help keep things organized or even clean up after the event.  So lets make that part of the 2016 challenge.  I also want everyone to remember what I always say…we only get one go around, so make it count!  Look at 2016 as a new beginning!  Ask yourself what you want out of life and how you can make things better.  Take the time for your health!  Get out and move!  Join a gym, eat better, walk more, run if you can but do something!  The human body was meant to be in motion and it’s just begging you to move…so let’s go!  Let’s run into the new year with bright eyes and a new awakening!  Stay with me on this!  Stay with me and I promise you there will be improvements!  I’ll keep my Run Zombie Run Website going, my Facebook page and this…30races.com.  Stay tuned and I’ll see you…on the Road!”  ~Zombie~

Sorry for the delay in getting something on the blog.  We took a family trip to South Carolina last week to get my daughter’s senior pictures done by a good friend and of course to visit the ocean/beaches and such!  The weather was crazy hot but sunshine every day!  Average temp was around 95 and the humidity…well, “forget about it!”  All my running was designated to pre-dawn when the temp was a low 82-84 degrees and about 87% humidity!

The highlight of the vacation (as far as running goes) was to take on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge…also known as the Cooper River bridge.  This thing is 2.5 miles in length and is one of the most beautiful suspension bridges in the country!  The first challenge was to run from one side to the other (5 miles).  Karla and I handled it and got back to our cottage and started talking about the run.  We decided that we needed a bit more of a challenge.  My idea…”Run the damn thing twice!”  We returned after a day off and wow!  The heat was crazy, we got to our parking spot later than expected due to road construction and on the second go around…the sun was up and cooking!  By mile 8 my feet were so wet from sweat that my shoes were leaving footprints on the pavement!  I know…gross!  Sweat footprints!  The views from the bridge and the excitement of being on a bridge of this size carried me through the 10 miles!  A killed almost a full 32 oz. Gatorade and a Core protein shake right after the run.  Karla was so depleted that she was almost in a daze!  We were very proud to have finished what we set out to do!  Bring on the next bridge!!

The beauty of South Carolina can be intoxicating.  So much to see and things are so well-preserved.  We went into Charleston and signed up for a Ghost and Graveyard walking tour!  Old graveyards from the 1700’s, stories of everything that went on in the streets there was something we really looked forward to.  We got into the downtown area a little early and walked the neighborhoods to look at the old historic homes.  Stunning is a good way to put it!  The tour started at 9:30 p.m. and we began wandering the streets and learning about the past.  A short time later I noticed helicopters flying about with spot lights.  I told Karla that they were Police choppers and with the spot lights on they had to be looking for someone.  I became very uneasy and the Eastside kid inside of me said there was danger about.  As soon as the tour concluded we headed back to the parking garage.  Karla looked on-line to see if there was something going on in the area.  I’m sure you all are aware now of the unspeakable horror that unfolded in the church there.  Getting out of the downtown area was a little tough as there were police everywhere and much of the area was blocked off.  We didn’t find out until the next morning what had happened and it left Karla and I very sad and out of sorts.

We made one more stop in the down town area before leaving and hoped to leave with better feelings about South Carolina.  I tried to embrace the beauty of the area and believe that things would improve.  It also made me reflect that my time on earth is never guaranteed and I need to live in the moment!  We returned to the beach and remained in the Folly Beach area until departing.  For those wondering, Folly Beach is an amazing area to visit!  Very small feel and not over commercialized!  Super Pet friendly…in fact they allow dogs to walk on the beach each morning from 6 a.m. until 10 a.m. with their owners to enjoy the scenery.  There is a small café called Lost Dog that I highly recommend visiting if you go there!  They serve Breakfast and lunch and then close for the day to relax!  The owner is originally from Ohio!  Yay!!

I kept up with the training during my vacation but did not schedule any formal races.  I’ll be right back at it this Saturday 6/27/15 at 8:30 a.m. at Swan Creek Metro Park for the Humane Hustle 5K!  All proceeds benefit the Humane Society!  We all love our animals!  I have quite a few races on tap for July!  July 2nd I’ll be in Woodville Ohio for the 4th of July celebration 5K!  It’s a night race 7:30 p.m. start.  Then it’ll be the Ohio/Michigan 8K on July 9th.  This will also be a night run!  Later in the month will be the Shawshanke Hustle in Mansfield Ohio at the old prison!  The following day will be Where’s the Dam trail 1/4 and 1/2 marathon in Grand Rapids Ohio!  I may throw another race or two in there and that will pack July!  With other races on my radar, I’m pretty sure I’ll reach 30 races by October.  That could change..so stay tuned!

Big message today…Live everyday to the fullest!  Tomorrow is promised to no one!  Live and Love those around you please!  We all need to take stock in those that mean something in our lives.  Now get out there and get moving!  I’ll see you on the road!

~Zombie~

I was spending some time today going over races for the upcoming months.  For those that didn’t know, I set up the races on a month to month basis due to my work schedule.  It can be a little hectic at times but for the most part, it all works out.

The month of June started out with National Running Day!  (June 3rd)  The weather was beautiful and the setting was International Park down on the river front.  I haven’t been down that way in years so was a bit surprised at what a fun course they mapped out for the run.  I was able to enjoy the 5K run with my wife Karla and my sister Patti…not to mention the many running friends from the Toledo Roadrunners!!  Love that group!  Had some Pink Compression socks on and a Pink Under Armour shirt under my Run Zombie Run top!  Showing support for the many in my life that are fighting cancer.  I placed “Team Valory” on my arm to honor and dedicate my race miles to a beautiful 9 year old girl by the name of Valory Newton.  You can find her on Facebook at Valory Fighting Dancer!  I was so inspired by this young lady that I put down a PR on this 5K course of 23:19!  I showed 23:16 on my Garmin…but close enough!  I can’t put into words how excited I was to have run so well and felt so good!  I say it was because of Valory and the Pink clothing!  I’ll be wearing more Pink throughout the remaining races this year!

Now today (Saturday 6/6/15) was a scheduled longer run with my sister.  We made plans to go out after I was “released” from work!  10+ hour days at work make me so tired and running was not the first thing on my mind to be honest.  My sister was waiting with her running shoes on…how can you say no to that?!!  Got on the running gear and out we went!  Perfect…and I do mean perfect evening for a run!  69-70 degrees, cool breeze blowing and sunshine for days!  My sister kept remarking on how beautiful everything looked!  The trees, grass, fields, homes, everything just seemed to be right in the world tonight!  Ran a nice 7 miles and home now for a bit of relax time.

July looks to be a little busier on the race schedule.  I’ll be in Woodville Ohio for the 4th of July celebration run on July 2nd! This will be an evening run and looks to be an excellent route for a 5K.  The Ohio/Michigan 8K run will also be on my schedule!  This will be an evening run also and falls on July 9th with a start time of 7 p.m.  I’ll be heading out of town for the Shawshank Hustle on July 25th at the old Mansfield prison!  There will be some 3,000 runners at this one so should be big fun!  The following day will be the Where’s the Dam trail 1/4 and 1/2 marathons!  This will be in Grand Rapids, Ohio.  This starts at 8 a.m. at Bluebell Island park.  I may throw another race in during June but with vacation to South Carolina in there, I don’t want to overbook.  18 Races down and I have quite a few on the books right now!  God willing I’ll sail right on by 30 races!  I will put some thought into scheduling something local and hopefully 1/2 marathon in size for my 30th race!  Need to make a big splash with that when it comes around!

Keep following and keep sharing the Run Zombie Run pages!  The more people talk about it, the better things will get for Mobile Meals and the many that they serve!  As always, any donations made go directly to Mobile Meals and are tax deductible.  No monies ever come to me for anything!  I do this because I love it and because it’s the right thing to do.  Now get out there and enjoy the start of what will be an amazing Summer!  I’ll see you on the road.

~Zombie~