Tag Archives: Sports

Anatomy of a 100-mile race

Posted on October 10, 2011 by James Addis in Causes

Fourteen hours before the start of yesterday’s Chicago Marathon, four friends set off to run a total of 100 miles (74 miles to the start of the Chicago Marathon) in a bid to secure sponsors for 400 children. World Vision writer James Addis followed their progress on his own little adventure through part of the night and during the marathon itself — sometimes by taxi, sometimes by bicycle, and sometimes by train… The assignment What a mission! Our four runners will run 74 miles mostly along the Chicago lakefront all through the night, before reaching the Chicago Marathon starting line in time for the beginning of the official race. The four runners are: Paul Jansen Van Rensburg, 37, a pastor...

Train. Pray. Run. (6 questions with a 100-mile runner)

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Causes, Child Sponsorship

Superman can defy gravity. Captain America has superhuman speed and endurance. Spider-Man can scale walls. For practically every law of nature, there is a superhero who can break that natural law. Michael Chitwood is one of those guys. Where no single person in their human physical condition should be able to do what he is about to do, Chitwood and three others are going to do just that. They’re going to run 100 miles in 21 straight hours — 74 miles through the night starting this afternoon, October 8, and then they will join 1,000 Team World Vision teammates for the final 26.2 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. When Michael first told me he was running 100 miles,...

What would you paddle 6,000 miles for?

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Causes

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a... kayak? | World Vision Blog

About a week ago I got this great email from a colleague telling me all about this recent college graduate who is embarking on a 15-month adventure around the Great Loop. (I confess I didn’t know what the Great Loop is so I looked it up: The Great Loop is a continuous waterway around the eastern United States and Canada… The route ranges from 5,000 to 7,500 miles, passing through many states and several climate zones. Source: http://www.paddleforwells.com) So, needless, to say… the Great Loop is basically an extraordinary waterway that would be no easy or quick trip for anyone. And what’s more? Josh Tart is going to paddle the whole thing in his kayak. (This is where you and...

Following Coach Richt to Honduras — a trip that changes lives

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Guest blogger in Partnerships, Stories

"Welcome Mark and Katharyn Richt" sign at a World Vision community in Honduras. ©2011 Erin Aspegren/World Vision

World Vision? What’s that? An optician with delusions of grandeur? A new psychic helpline? A few months ago, I had no idea. Then there came a curious off-season story from the most watched sports beat here at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: University of Georgia football. Bulldogs fans were all atwitter over a report that head coach Mark Richt had put his vacation lake home up for sale. That prompted wide speculation that after two disappointing seasons he was selling off as a hedge against the possibility of being fired this year........

Why I run…

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Michael Chitwood, national director, Team World Vision in Causes

Team World Vision runner Paul Martin with World Vision staff member Nano Ngwane during the Comrades ultra-marathon in South Africa. ©2010 Andrea Peer/World Vision

Maybe running’s not your thing. So marathons wouldn’t really be your thing. Five kilometers or 42.195 kilometers — definitely not your thing. Maybe your thing is music, or sporting events, or enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Pacific Northwest. Now that sounds a lot more like the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. That’s because this marathon isn’t really your average running venture. Local bands play live music, and cheer squads line the roads every mile. Lake Washington neighbors come out of their homes to join the “crowd” en route from Tukwila, Washington, to downtown Seattle. It’s a “running [and I would add, outdoor entertainment] nirvana,” as the marathon Facebook page says....