Please Sponsor Bob’s Boston Marathon Run for Children’s Hospital Boston

Less than two weeks from now (April 17), I’ll be running yet another Boston Marathon (it’ll be the eighth time I’ve made the same journey, the fifth time for charity), and I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this very special day.

I’ve enjoyed running since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so for me, no matter how many times I’ve gone the distance, running Boston is still the thrill of a lifetime, a childhood dream come remarkably true.

I’m lucky, though. Some children’s dreams are mercilessly dashed due to dread, debilitating diseases and disorders that you and I can’t even begin to imagine. Their challenge isn’t a marathon – it’s life itself, one difficult day at a time, courageously contending with poor health, waiting for a cure, hoping to prevail despite seemingly overwhelming odds.

It’s for these children that I’ll be running the Boston Marathon this year as one of the few, proud members of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country.

Hailey, 7, My Children’s Hospital Boston Patient Partner

I’ll be running Boston for children like my patient partner, Hailey, a cute, little girl living with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a rare genetic disorder – characterized by bones that break easily, often from little or no apparent cause – for which there is not yet a cure.

Imagine, Hailey is only seven (she was born on May 26, 1998), but she’s already suffered 51 broken bones and undergone a number of serious surgeries. Thanks to Children’s Hospital Boston, however, Hailey’s OI is under control, and she’s living her young life to the fullest.

Your sponsorship of my run will mean a great deal to me, but it’ll mean even more to the doctors, nurses and staff at Children’s Hospital Boston – and the patients, like Hailey, in their care.

Give Now and Get a $5 Olive Garden Gift Certificate

This time around, I’ve committed to raise a minimum of $3,500 for Children’s, and I’ve received 65 donations (from 65 kind souls) so far for a total of $2,919. So I really do need your support if I’m going to reach, if not exceed, my fundraising goal. Every dollar counts, especially in these last few days leading up to the big event.

Please help me help make dreams come true for more boys and girls. Please sponsor my Boston Marathon run with a gift of $25, $15, $50 or more to Children’s Hospital Boston. I’ll be so grateful for your support.

As a small token of my appreciation, I’ll mail the next six people to contribute to my cause a $5 gift certificate redeemable at any Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. (Olive Garden was kind enough to donate these certificates, so the next time I take my family out to dinner there, I plan to thank the manager in person.)

To make a secure, online donation to my Children’s Hospital Boston fundraising campaign right here and now, simply follow these instructions…

1. Go to www.chtrust.org/bostonmarathon.
2. Click on “Sponsor a Runner/Give Online” on the right-hand side
of the screen.
3. Enter my name, “Bob Cargill” and/or my Profile ID (CB0022) in
the “Search for a Runner to Sponsor” fields.
4. Click on my name, “Bob Cargill,” under Search Results, in the middle of the page.
5. Donate to Children’s Hospital Boston.

Of course, if you prefer, you may write a check – payable to Children’s Hospital Boston – and return it to my attention at 33 Oakwood Avenue, Sudbury, MA 01776.

Me and Hailey, the day before I ran the Boston Marathon last spring.

Whatever you can do to help support my Boston Marathon run for Children’s Hospital Boston – and Hailey – please do it today. I’ll appreciate it. The hospital will appreciate it. And, most of all, the children will appreciate it. It is on their behalf that I just can’t thank you enough.

Note: To read about the other four times I’ve run the Boston Marathon for charity (in ’96 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, in ’02 and ’03 for The Home for Little Wanderers and in ’05 for Children’s Hospital Boston), click here, here, here, here and here.

Tags: fundraising pledge-based fundraising Boston Marathon Bob Cargill Children’s Hospital Boston Miles for Miracles running marathon running for charity

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