How the Houston Hot Undies Run Raised $9000

Carissa with Undies Run Poster

This entry was written by Roxanne Thomas.

The inspiration for the Houston Hot Undies Run came from a fellow CTF supporter named Chad Leathers. He helped organize Cupid’s Undie Run in DC back in February. When I saw Cupid’s Undie Run on the NF blog, I thought, “Wow! That looks wildly fun and a little bit crazy!”

How did our Hot Undies Run come to be in Houston, Texas? My daughter and I are an NFE “team”. Carissa is a 5th year graduate student in the MD/Ph.D program at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. In the fourth largest city in the country, we hoped there would be many people who would agree that an undie run sounded wildly fun and a little bit crazy. I called Carissa and she loved the idea.

Our next step was to find sponsors. Carissa and I are members of Brian O’Neill’s (BON) Running Club in Houston. BON Running Club’s president Dave Lee, and Brian O’Neill’s Irish Pub loved the undie run idea and enthusiastically agreed to host, sponsor, and help us organize the event. We were fortunate to be chosen as one of four charity events they organize each year.

The inaugural Hot Undies Run took place on August 21, 2010. The 2-mile, non-competitive course was run in a 110-degree heat index, but that didn’t stop 500+ participants from coming out to support the Children’s Tumor Foundation. The undies theme was embraced with a wide variety of undies and creative accessories. Many groups competed for a “Best Dressed Group” prize. Two other pubs along the route joined in on the fun with “hydration stations”. At one point, a fire department crew cruised by and noticed the run. They stopped, and all the firemen got out to cheer on our runners!

The runners really enjoyed a great after-party with music, food, drinks, and raffle prizes. One of the most touching moments was meeting two young ladies and one young man in their own NF jersey and CTF t-shirts who came out to walk the event with our runners. All three had an NF touch in their lives.

Creative costumes on the course

Carissa and I had never organized an event before, but we were able to raise over $9000 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation. We were so fortunate that many people jumped in to help us. (Especially Dave Lee, with his experience organizing races.) Organizing an event of any kind does take a lot of time and energy. The pre-event jitters can certainly compare to, or top, pre-race jitters! If you can, share your fundraising idea with someone who is experienced, can work with you, and help you learn. Carissa and I couldn’t have done this without the many people, sponsors, and volunteers who helped us.

We are grateful for all our NF Endurance team members who support and empower each other by sharing ideas and working together towards ending NF, rather than just living with NF. We are very glad that Chad Leathers and his friends shared their idea and truly appreciate the always supportive and fun staff at NF Endurance, who keeps us all running strong.

They say everything is bigger in Texas, and the hearts in Houston were especially big that day!

Roxanne and Carissa Thomas

See more pictures at:

http://mynfenduranceteamphotoblog.shutterfly.com/

Rachel’s Lucky Charm — Neon

by: Rachel Heiman

Stephanie and Rachel with the Lucky Charms Leprechaun.

I ran the Run of the Mills 5K last year with my dad and brother. It is a General Mills sponsored run for employees and their families. This year my dad “adopted” my cousin Stephanie for this run as well. My dad told us that the race started at 8:00 a.m. and we planned to meet them in the parking lot at 7:30 a.m.. Stephanie, Andy and I got to the parking lot at about 7:20 a.m. and there were  three cars in the entire lot. The year before the lot had been completely full. I had a feeling dad was wrong on the start time so I gave him a call. He said, “No, I’m sure it was at 8:00.”

Dad arrives, we get our race numbers on, and go in to the General Mills campus. Dad runs off to talk to some of his coworkers and then returns to say, “I made a mistake. The race starts at 9:00.” Turns out we had to stand around for a while before the race actually started. This gave us ample time to get pictures with all of the General Mills cereal characters.

Steph and I wore our NF jerseys to this run. We were actually surprised to see another NF runner in the crowd so we ran over to her and talked to her. She had cycled the MS 100 the year before and her daughter had NF. We took a photo with her and then parted ways as the race director was asking everyone to line up.

As Steph and I lined up for the race, another woman came up to me and said, “I like your shirt!” She then asked me where I’d “run that race”? I told her I ran the Twin Cities Marathon and then she said, “No, where did you run the NF race?” I explained that I was a part of the NF Endurance Team that runs for NF and she said, “Thank you for doing that. I have NF.” Truly inspiring.

The Hardest Part is Putting on Your Shoes

Two brain surgeries, one spine surgery, four eye surgeries, one auditory brainstem implant, and he’s one of the lucky ones, he said.

Matt Hay has Neurofibromatosis, Type 2, but while NF makes some things in life a bit harder for him, Matt hasn’t found anything that has been impossible.

Following a spinal surgery to have one of these tumors removed, Matt was unable to stand or walk. “I remember asking the doctor if that function would return and he replied, ‘It should,’” said Matt. “Should? Uh thanks.”

Months of physical therapy took him from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane. “I then made up my mind that I was going to celebrate my progress by running a marathon on the one-year anniversary of that surgery while raising some money and awareness for NF at the same time.”

That was a few marathons, half marathons and triathlons ago, but since there isn’t a cure for NF, he keeps lacing up his shoes. When his daughter, Maddie, was two, she said, “Daddy, maybe I’ll fix your ears for you.” It has been two years now and Matt jokes that her neurosurgery skills haven’t improved and he still will run for a reason — curing NF. He and his wife, Nora, will be on the course at the Indy Mini Marathon wearing on May 8, 2010.

“I think what CTF is doing is amazing,” said Matt. “This increased presence at events is also evidence that what the CTF team is doing is really working in terms of raising interest, awareness, support and money.”

Matt first found about NF Endurance after meeting Steve Kendra one year during the Chicago Marathon. “His [Steve's] enthusiasm and support really raised the bar in the professionalism, organization overall team spirit of the event,” said Matt. As a result, he and his wife, Nora, have run as part of the NF Endurance Team in many more races including the Myrtle Beach Marathon and the Indy Mini Marathon. His goal for the 2010 Indy Mini is $7,500 and he has raised $6,988.79 to date.

Matt and Nora have helped the team as both runners and supporters and find both roles equally challenging. Navigating closed streets and the ‘L’ in Chicago, surrounded by close to one million people at 7:00 a.m. on race day, can be just as tiring as running 26.2 miles. “I want all of my friends and family to know that for the runner nothing about the race is as rewarding as seeing such great support cheering and holding signs up when the miles seems to get longer and legs get heavier.”

And even though he has multiple races logged, there are still days when he can’t find the time or energy to run. Matt champions the words,  “the hardest part is putting on your shoes.”  “Once I get my shoes on, everything else seems to fall into place…know that you aren’t alone and that most people crossing the finish line on race day started that way too.”

He has chosen to focus on the things that he can do. He has poor balance and can’t ride a bike; he finished his first triathlon on a recumbent trike. He has nerve damage from brain surgery that causes his left eye to  get dry; he bought sunglasses with foam lining. And, he jokes that his 4-year-old can almost read now because she has never seen a TV in their house without closed captioning.

A few years ago Matt was told that he could get a discounted train pass for his daily commute to work because of his hearing loss.  “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, these train people think I’m disabled,  but I bet they aren’t running marathons!”

“Having NF is just a part of who I am,” said Matt. “I don’t know if it is by choice or circumstance, but I ‘m fortunate to have a pretty positive outlook on my life.”