My latest dream is to have an ultra marathon to raise diabetes awareness. Obviously you don't simply wake up and say "I'm going to put on an ultra marathon" the amount of planning and work that goes into such an event is crazy. Think about, you have to find a state park to run a 50k, you need at least 100 people that would be interested in running and you need a location that is appealing to the runner. You also need something that makes the event unique, many ultra marathons have lotteries for runners because the race has something special.
The Diabetes Ultra (preliminary name) is slated to be run somewhere in Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. Personally that is very attractive for an Ultra, it has the mountains, amazing scenery, and is close to a major city/airport. I also believe that the Northeast has a large number of ultra runners but has yet to have an ultra marathon that an Ultra runner in Europe or Asia would be interested in.
After the route and location what is left to make an Ultra special, especially The Diabetes Ultra. The Diabetes Ultra would have a diabetic champion!! Any person running with diabetes is automatically put into this field, the winner could win an all expenses trip to Friends for Life where they will share their story with everyone that attends Friends for Life. (Obviously this has yet to be worked out but I love the idea) That is just one idea that I have, obviously I'd love to workout something with my favorite pro team but I'll save that for when The Diabetes Ultra becomes a reality.
If this is all a dream why would I write about it? This dream just like all of my dreams isn't about money or being acknowledged for my work but it would be used to not only raise diabetes awareness but to save lives. At the end of the race, I don't want to walk away with any money in my pocket. After everything has been paid for the money left will be used to purchase diabetes supplies. Those supplies in turn will be donated to a family in need. If the money raised is able to buy more supplies then they will be donated to more than one family. We are living in a time where many people can not afford diabetes supplies, that is tough to read day in and day out on social media. I don't know how to fix that problem but I can do all that I can to raise money to help someone in need.