July 29 - Rest Day; July 30 - 4.1 Miles Ran, 5 Miles Sponsored

I ran at lunch time in Glastonbury for the first time since June 18.  I have not been running at lunch because it's been in the 90's almost every day for the last few weeks.  Today was beautiful, however.  I felt pretty good, running at a 7:14 min/mi pace.

I believe the record for the longest-distance sponsor was broken yesterday when my old soccer buddy John Shepherd of Brighton, England sponsored 5 miles.  Shep was a star mid-fielder on the 1985 University of Bridgeport soccer team with the scrappy American right fullback (me).  I hadn't been in touch with Shep since his return to England about 25 years ago until he amazingly stumbled upon this blog a few days ago.  Here's an excerpt from his out-of-the-blue email:

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Hi Brez

It's your old soccer team mate and University friend, Shep.

By absolute chance, i stumbled on your charity run, and felt compelled to support your course; I have sponsored you for five miles via the on-line donation page. Please let me know if there are any problems with trans-Atlantic donations, as i can honestly say i have never donated to any USA based charities before. I will also run five miles on Sept 1st in Brighton, as way of morale support and celebration for you, Chase and your great cause.

The events at Sandy Hook shock the world, so i cannot imagine what it feels like to be so directly affected. I know myself that suddenly that meeting was not so important, the e-mails could wait and just knowing that your own children were safe became the important factor in any parents life. If just one positive thing came from the Sandy Hook tragedy, it was that parents over the world hugged their children a little tighter that night, and appreciated the joy they already had.
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How awesome is that...another amazing connection and another person touched by Chase.  If we could only bring him back to meet the countless people he's touched.

I completed miles 871-874, sponsored by my friend Shep, with on more to go.

Today's Line:

Date DoW ToD Distance Time  Min/Mile Notes Effort Total Miles
7/30 Tu 12:30p 4.1 29:38:00 7:13:40 78f 7 874.6