ONEfight 2010-2011 Race and Event schedule!

Hey everyone!

We're looking at putting together the rest of our 2010 and 2011 race and events schedule! What we'd like to happen is one of two things. First, you can leave a comment on our page, or two, you can email us at onefightorg@gmail.com. And this is how we hope that it will work out. One of our big things is helping promote causes within the community that you live. So, we'd love to come to an event and help you out. Racing in a 5 or 10k? Half or full marathon? We'd love to get out and race with you and support you. Any other event you have in mind? We'd love to be there. Help you voice your cause. So let us know, and we will see what we can do to be there. Keep fighting.

WEIT

W.E.I.T. This is a little motto that I have come to live life by. What does it stand for some may be wondering. Or, what does it mean? Well, here it goes; Whatever It Takes. So this is how I learned it, and understand that Whatever It Takes should be WIT, but, if you can get past that, I think that this will truly benefit your life. There is a quote that I love, and it states;

When you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it,

To work day and night for it,

To give up your peace and your sleep and your time for it;

If only the desire of it makes your aim strong enough never to tire of it;

If life seems all empty and useless without it,

And all that you dream and you scheme is about it;

If gladly you'll sweat for it, fret for it, plan for it,

Pray with all your strength for it;

If you'll simply go after the thing that you want with all your capacity,

Strength and sagacity; faith, hope, and confidence, stern pertinacity;

If neither poverty nor cold nor famish nor gaunt

Nor sickness or pain to body or brain can turn you away

From the aim that you want;

If dogged and grim, you besiege and beset it, you'll get it!

If there is anything in your life that you want so bad, that you feel exactly how that quote describes, you'll find a way to get it. You will do absolutely anything to obtain that goal, or whatever it may be. It's important for us to obtain the goals, and achieve what we set out to do in our every day lives. Think of those things that we all want the most, and then do everything in our power to have the opportunity to reach those aspirations and feel the joy of accomplishing something great.

Marathon #2

If you would have told me that when I finished the St. George Marathon in October that I would have a desire to run another marathon, I would have told you that you were crazy. So, last month, I signed up for the St. George Marathon yet again, in hopes of getting in, and cutting my time down from last year. Yesterday, I found out. I wasn't accepted in to the lottery. I must say, I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted to run in the St. George Marathon. So, I was torn with what to do. I was wondering is possibly someone somewhere was trying to tell me that I shouldn't run a marathon again. Maybe I am stubborn, maybe I just am a bit bitter right now, but I needed to find another marathon around the same time so that I could run it.

So... Here it is. After a bit of searching, on December 5th, 2010, a few weeks before we leave for a cruise in the Bahamas, I will be running the Rock 'N Roll Las Vegas Marathon. There are a few good things to being able to run this marathon:

1- It's a few months further away than the St. George, which will allow me some more time to train which is always a good thing right?

2-Everyone that signs up gets in. I don't have to worry about the lottery.

3- Once the marathon is over, I don't have to worry about getting into my 'beach body' mode for the cruise as I hope that I will already be there for the marathon.

I say that it is a win win situation. I am really looking forward to it, and to run it in a good time. So, I'll keep you updated on what is going on, and how the training is. Thanks for reading all of this. You're all great.

Thanks CREWsaders

I just blogged a bit about this past weekend. But I wanted to say thank you to all who went down this past weekend.

You say that you know someone. But, do you really? Sure, I knew Clayson, Kayla, Kaylee, and Vairin. I work with them. I saw them a few times a week at work. We had conversations. We said hello, had small chat. Had laughs. But I think that all changed this past weekend in St. George.

First; to any of you mentioned above, congratulations on the race this weekend! It was amazing and you all did a terrific job! They say you really get to know someone by spending a lot of time with someone. You can begin to understand who they really are. Well, one of the benefits of running a team relay race is that you have an opportunity to spend A LOT of time with individuals. I am so lucky to have spent time with some amazing people. The ride down was just the beginning. We were able to actually learn about each other. Not just, what they think about the Jazz. I was able to learn about their life, things they liked, things they didn't like, and a number of other things.

Then the race began. This is where I learned the most about everyone over the weekend. I was running the first leg of the race. We began and things were going well. I wanted to follow this female runner and try and keep her pace throughout the race. We are going along and she is keeping a really good pace. I feel like I have been running for quite a while at this point, when she turns to me and says, ' half way'. I thought; 'wow. I am so slow. I am letting my team down here.' I turn to my ipod which also tracks how far you've gone with your time. It had only been 27 minutes so I didn't feel as bad. But I realized that she was keeping a pace that I wasn't used to. It was faster than I had trained for. WHOOPS. I thought to myself: 'walk for a bit, and catch your breath'. As I thought this, I saw our team car ahead and everyone outside cheering. If you're a runner, you understand what this can do for you. It is motivating. I had to keep going. I learned that they cared about how you were doing. Enough about me though, this isn't about me. Throughout the rest of the race there were many experiences that helped me understand each individual.

Kayla- Kayla is quite the team player. She was asked if she wanted to run with our team a week before we left for St. George. That's a quick turn around to run a race in. But she didn't even hesitate. She just said yes. Her first leg she did really well. She felt bad I think because we weren't up in the pack with the rest of the race. But during her second leg of the race she pushed herself and come to find out had passed multiple teams. It showed how determined she was; and what a team player she was. She didn't have to do that. That was impressive Kayla.

Clayson- Clayson took the leg after Kayla had passed those teams and we were looking good. By this time in the race it was us and this other team. It is now incredibly hot outside, and on your second leg you begin to get tired very quickly. We tried to find a point where we could pull over and wait for Clayson and give any encouragement he needed. The other teams that were somewhat near us came up to us and asked if we wanted to start the next leg early because they had to get going or something like that. And that we could start with them if we wanted. We decided to send our next runner Kaylee along. The team we were with (the things) had told us that they saw Clayson and that he looked tired and he was sore. We began to worry a little bit. We drove back the course and found him about a mile from the finish line. We asked if he wanted a ride up to the next check point and that our runner had taken off. He said, 'no, I want to finish this'. That set a tone for our team the rest of the race. It showed courage and determinism. Never give up. EVER. Clayson. I look up to you for that. That was so impressive.

Vairin- The weather had begun to change on us and a storm was beginning to roll in. He took the last leg of the race. We had heard some bad news from Salt Lake City about a family that we work with. He dedicated his leg to that family. And he ran that leg as someone else. We got to where the finish line was, but there was a catch. You had to run through the finish line down another mile and then back. I am sure it was going through his mind that it would be so easy to just run through the finish line, and I bet the event staff would have said go for it, but he didn't. He went the extra mile. It showed a determinism to finish what you start. It also showed love for others. Going out of his way to help others. So impressive.

kaylee- The race had begun to take its toll on all of us. By this time it's been 8 or 9 hours. We're all tired. Some of us our done with our legs. Others still waiting to go. Most of the pack is either done, or well ahead of us. Kaylee wasn't feeling very well when she began her last leg. After Clayson finishes we pull up to Kaylee. We ask how she is and find out that her knees are really bothering her, and she still doesn't feel well. We drive up further to see how far she has left to go. It's a long ways it seems, along with a dirt road and a big hill to finish. We go back and tell Kaylee what is in store. It would have been easy for her as well to say that we could go to the next check point. We would have all understood. Sore body, hurting knees, and not feeling well. It's a bad combination. But she said, 'no, I don't want you to think I'm a wuss', or something along those lines. She kept pushing on. Kaylee wont give up on anything in life. She is a fighter, and a trooper. Thanks for that example Kaylee. That was impressive.

We finished the race, and had a great ride back home. We talked about the most random things. We talked about facial hair, grilled cheese sandwiches, or tacos. We even talked about combining the two. Everything came up during the ride home. There was a new sense of friendship that I think we all felt. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of such a wonderful experience, and to be around such wonderful examples and people. Thank you all.

What is it?

There is something about running. It may be the sound of feet pushing forward in front of you. It could be the feeling of releasing stress of a long or maybe hard week. It very well could be the feeling of getting into better shape. Whatever it may be for you, I think that we could all agree on one thing: it's addicting. I think that there is one thing about running though that we could all agree on.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a pro runner. Nor am I a great runner. I just enjoy all of the things mentioned before as well as a good challenge. During the St. George Marathon last October (my first marathon), I grew a lot as a person during the five and a half or so hours that I spent running. It was emotional. I don't know why. As I came around the last corner of that race and saw the people down the last stretch, I could have just stopped and bawled. I can't explain it. But I had a similar experience just this past weekend.

Something tough about getting the ONEfight organization going is that it is hard to get it going, get people excited about it, and move on from there. But I wish to share an experience with you. A few months ago, at work, I was asked if I wanted to run a 50 mile relay with a few other people. I said that I would. During the time of training the topic of what ONEfight was came up in discussion. I was so thrilled to hear that people that I was training to do this race with thought that it was a good idea and something that they believed in too. This added a new sense to our race. We weren't going down to just run. We were running for others. Each member of the team had a reason to run. I may not have known what that cause was, but you could tell by the determination that each individual had.

Something really special happened to us while we were there. 50 miles is a long way. It's a long time to spend with people. It is a lot of waiting in a car, and chatting about who knows what. You run your leg, and then you're back to the car. But something happens as you finish your leg. You are able to relate to what the person who had gone before experienced. You began to feel for them. As the race went on, the encouragement for each other began to increase. It was amazing. I felt a strong connection to those that were there. Even the other teams. I didn't know any of them, or probably wont see any of them again. But I think they felt it too. I know when I show up to work, and see those that were there running as part of our team, we will have a special bond that will last for a long time. I am grateful for that experience and the friendships that were made this past weekend. Thanks to all who made this happen.

HELP!

Hi everyone.
We hope that you are all doing really well. We have one item of business that we'd like to discuss with you. It has come time for us to order more remember bands(thank to all who purchased our first set). What we'd like, is input from you. There are three options we have:
1)- We can order the same bands like we did last time. A grey band with orange ONEfight written across the actual band.
2)- We can order new ones. We can order a bright blue band with ONEfight debossed in the actual band(like the liveSTRONG bracelets).
3)- Or third, we can order a bright blue band, with ONEfight written in a neon green color.

The advantages to the new bands would be a more prominent color and it would create more of a buzz about the bands(people wondering what they were for).

We would like your opinion on what you want to see, or would like to have. The pricing would be a bit different depending on what you want. It wont be outrageous by any means. It would be about 2 dollars for options 1 or 2, and 3 dollars for option three. It's still a great deal, it'll just cost a bit more due to the amount we are ordering. So send us an email either here on facebook or to onefightorg@gmail.com.

If you'd like a band but can't financially let us know too what band you'd like, and we'll work something out for you. Remember, it's a good cause, something to help raise awareness, and it's just a dollar or two(really 3) to help those in need. Thanks

RE: From ONEfight.blogspot.com

Trust your gut

Hey followers. Thanks for reading. We want to be better at posting and posting things that might be of interest to you. So this is the first of a series of health stories to help educate you.

For the past year my mom has been encountering these dizzy spells. It was so random. It would only happen when she would be doing something physically. It could be walking, snowshoeing, lifting weights, or a number of other things. A few times it even lead to fainting.

Last March my brother and ONEfight executive Alex Smith had a pace maker and defibrillator put in to help a condition which he has(hyper cardio myapathy). The condition makes physical activity difficult. It leaves you tired. Doing simple things, such as walking up a flight of stairs, wears you out. The heart thinks you are running or doing something very physical. After the surgery we all went in to make sure that nothing was noticed in our family.

The dizzy spells continued for our mom. She began tests last year and nothing was found. Results kept coming back negative. But obviously something was going on. So she kept going back to the doctor and explaining the condition to doctors. It wasn't until about 2 weeks ago that something changed. They called and wanted her to come down to the hospital immediately. After further testing it was found that the bottom ventricle of her heart wasn't pumping as much blood as the top ventricle. It was decided that they would put a pacemaker in, in efforts to get the bottom ventricle pumping blood at the same rate as the top.

The surgery was today, and she is out and recovering very well. But the point of the story is that if you feel that something is going on with your body but nothing is found in tests, don't give up. You know your body better than anyone. Even if something isn't found the first, second, or even third time, and the problem is still bothering you, keep getting it checked out.

Keep fighting in your daily struggles. Keep fighting to help others with theirs. Together we can make a difference. Keep reading and we'll be chatting with you soon. Keep fighting followers.

Ryan Smith