by Christie Cavanaugh, board member
A group of women who enjoy running and/or walking together decided to organize an informal event to have another reason to . . . well, just get together to exercise and socialize!
The Trail Mix-athon Pre-Thanksgiving Run held on Saturday, November 22 emerged as an idea to gather and run or walk a half marathon, a 10K, or even a 2-mile distance. The running distance and speed didn’t matter, but when these women decided to link the run to Book Harvest as a way to blend fitness and charity, the distance did matter–the group was challenged to collect at least one book for every mile covered on the American Tobacco Trail as a collective group.
The event drew involvement from more than 40 participants and included family members and friends. A total of 303.5 miles (closest estimate) was logged by the group and with 383 books collected, we surpassed our goal! In addition, we had some very generous donors who also contributed some monetary gifts, all of which is very much appreciated! The group convened for an evening celebration at the Washington Duke Inn that same evening and Book Harvest was on the minds of many. Each book and every dollar will be used to bring smiles to children’s faces as they can claim another book as their very own and thus have a stronger foundation for a path to literacy.
Many thanks to all those who participated in any part of this very special event from organizing to setting up the race provisions to arranging room, food, and entertainment for the evening to creating some very special “awards” for all runners/walkers. This is one talented and generous group of women who share a love of running and fitness and apparently a love of literacy for all children.