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By Doug and Patty Stewart
This race came into being as a result of a long-standing personal desire to help children in some way, in our immediate area. I’ve always known that people give generously from their hearts during the Christmas season, but there are still several cold months that follow and the need for food is still great for those less fortunate needing help on a temporary basis.
I decided to use a 10K race and included a one mile walk to enable virtually anyone of any age to participate. Runners typically have no available races during the winter months although they continue to train for spring marathons. They are generally a generous group who will rally around a worthy cause and Valentine’s Day seemed like a good time to give once again from the heart, thus the name “For the Love of It Valentine’s Run”. The slogan, “You’ve got to give back to get in”, gives runners the opportunity to actively help others by donating non-perishable food items as well as an entry fee, thus sharing their good fortune.
The food donations will be distributed equally between the Nitro Care and Share Food Program and the Cross Tyler Food Pantry and the monies collected will be evenly divided between those two food programs and the Nitro Senior Center. Nitro’s Senior Center is the only one in Kanawha County that is self-sustaining. Many seniors come here daily for a hot lunch as well as participating in many social activities. And after all, our seniors are simply someone’s older children, so this race will benefit children of all ages in our area.
In 2005 approximately 200 racers and walkers participated and over $1,300.00 was raised in addition to the food donated on race day as part of the entry fee. We intend to double the size of the race this year by allowing many other Nitro businesses to support us in this effort. In 2006 we had incredible volunteer support last year including personal friends, Troop 77 of the Boy Scouts of America, Nitro City Council, and race day traffic control by Nitro’s Police and Fire Departments and want to thank each and every one of them for their help. Through the efforts of our volunteers and the participation and generosity of the runners we were able to raise more than double that of 2005.
A very special thanks goes to those that gave us direction and help rally the troops - Kelly Castleberry and Jennifer Brumfield for their help and direction, and Fred Waybright and WK Munsey for their help in race course set up and race day timing! Jeff Peterson and FocusOne who helped with the Web Page set up, data collection and entry and Jeff for being the general fix-it guy.
Last but not least my wife, Patty, who carried a large share of the work when I wasn’t available and kept me on task when I would falter. We could not have had such success with out your help!
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