Running in firefighting gear, and sending kids to school

I guess it's time that I put down into a post exactly what's going on.  The news article should be up on the internet today, and in print tomorrow.  You can also find me on facebook and twitter as 26point2forEDU.

Basically, I'm running a marathon in firefighting gear.  No, I'm not crazy.

What I am, however, is determined.  I was once asked by a hiring board to sum myself up in one word.  I chose the word "tenacious."  The hiring board asked me what the difference was between that and bullheaded.  At the time, I didn't have an answer, but more than a decade later I can tell you the difference.  It's the difference between a strong will and a strong won't.

So, on February 19th, I'm going to run the Austin Marathon in firefighting gear.  I'm doing this to raise money for a scholarship in the name of a dear friend, Leonard Reed.  He was an amazing man, and inspired quite a few amazing things.  You can read about him here.

What the scholarship aims to do is to send kids to fire school and police academies after high school.  Support Behind the Badge is the group that formed the scholarship, and I'm running to support them.

There are several community resources and corporate sponsors that have gotten involved.


Infinit Nutrition has been amazing.  In order to do something like this, I have to have the right nutrition - customized and with Infinit's support and ability to work with me has made it possible. If you order from them, they'll give you a discount, and 10% of the sale goes back to the scholarship.   See my previous posts on nutrition for more information.  Use the code "firegirl" at checkout to get the discount.


The scholarship has been set up with Dell Cares.  If you work for Dell, you can donate, and Dell will match your donation.

Inspire Fitness has provided some wonderful people to support me along the way.  They're going to make sure that I have someone with me at all times during the marathon so I have everything I need.  I can't say enough wonderful things about the group of ladies that's running with me.  They're the Gems and you can find their running group here.

Jeff Hayes at Plasmafire Graphics did the logo for us.  He really did a great job!

Johnny at Hill Country News has been awesome enough to help us get the word out.  Thanks, Johnny!   Here's the link to the story.

Did I forget something?  Post below and I'll add it!  And don't forget to follow me on facebook and twitter!

Donation Link  Want to donate to help our future generation of firefighter and police officers?  This is a secure donation link.

A little about me:
I'm a career firefighter going on 13 years.  I'm married to a police officer and we have two great kids.  Hopefully they'll go to college and be doctors or astronauts, but for the time being, I want to show them that you can do anything that you decide you can do.  I'm not new to running, or to endurance sports.  I've been a runner for years, and started in triathlon last year.