A lot has happened in the last sixteen days. In order to make fundraising for The V Foundation possible I've been hitting the pavement hard in search of sponsors for <a href=" http://sothisisfitness.com/2013/08/on-to-the-next-one-13-1.html" target="_blank">my big half-marathon run</a>. I'm happy to say...I've been incredibly successful! I've been floored by the outpouring of support and by all the businesses who have responded to my story and have committed to sponsoring me! I want to recognize and thank all of my sponsors and talk about how some of them have gone a step further to support me, but I can't do ALL of that in one post...it'd be too long and you'd get bored.&nbsp; Instead, let's talk about one particular addition to what's becoming <b>two months of training and races</b>.<br /><br /><b>Those who have been reading</b> "So THIS Is Fitness..." know that Sportclips is the title sponsor for my half-marathon run. I called that the "platinum level" sponsor. I have also been seeking Gold and Silver level sponsors. One of the Gold level sponsors I've secured went a step further and, among other things, went beyond the "Gold" level, allowing me to register for another race in preparation for the half-marathon! <b>That's awesome! </b>What race? Who did it?<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwqUQpmiSgA/UiANlyusqwI/AAAAAAAABY0/bGSP2Wyd-94/s1600/Mocean-Logo-22-300x102.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwqUQpmiSgA/UiANlyusqwI/AAAAAAAABY0/bGSP2Wyd-94/s400/Mocean-Logo-22-300x102.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://moceancapecod.com/" target="_blank">MOCEAN Cape Cod</a>! <b>That's </b>who. I poked my head in to the store one day (in Mashpee Commons, by the way), had a GREAT conversation with Ryan, the owner, and he seemed really into the blog, my story, and what I was trying to do. He threw out a lot of great ideas and hopefully late in September or early October we'll be able to hold a fundraising event at his store (as long as I can think one up!). He was so into everything I've got going on with this that he not only signed on to be a Gold sponsor for the half-marathon, but he's now the title (Platinum) sponsor for another run! How excited do you think I am to add in another run to this little campaign? Yeah. So, what run is this?<br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c4lueAHLlYw/UiCBA91nvPI/AAAAAAAABZE/dHx7ZaSYyPk/s1600/capecod4troops.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c4lueAHLlYw/UiCBA91nvPI/AAAAAAAABZE/dHx7ZaSYyPk/s320/capecod4troops.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>The 5th Annual Canal Run For The Troops 10K</b><br /><br />October 5th, at 10 am, I'll be starting what promises to be a beautiful run along the Cape Cod Canal. What a great way to spend day 2 of my birthday weekend! Turn 25 one day, go run a 10K the next. Works for me<br /><br />This run is put on by a great little organization called <a href="http://www.capecod4thetroops.com/" target="_blank">Cape Cod Cares For Our Troops</a>, headquartered in Brewster. I poked around their website, and they actually do a lot for Cape-based troops. You should check out their site (linked above).<br /><br /><b>There's something I'd like to point out about road races:</b><br /><br />One of the nice things many people don't realize is that when you sign up for a road race like this, where an organization is putting it on, your entry fee isn't just helping to pay for the running of the event itself - <b>your entry fee is a donation to the organization</b> and the (presumably) good work it's doing. They plan to use the money raised from this run to send 1500 Christmas care packages to our troops deployed overseas. <b>Seems like a worthy cause to me.</b> Maybe one will make it to my cousin Joshua, <i>who knows</i>. <br /><br /><b>This Is Only Going To Continue Growing!</b><br /><br /><b>That's not the only run </b>I have the privilege of adding to my little campaign here, but I'll save the rest for another update. I'm so excited at what this is turning into, so happy at the outpouring of support, and I can't wait to really get rolling with this! I want to send a BIG thanks out to Ryan and his crew at MOCEAN in Mashpee. You can find them in the Mashpee Commons at 34 Steeple St., <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MOCEANCAPECOD" target="_blank">on Facebook here</a>, and <a href="http://www.moceancapecod.com/" target="_blank">at their website here</a>.<br /><br />I've got about two weeks until the <b>real</b> training starts. Once I get all the sponsors lined up and confirmed I'll get everything in order for fundraising, which will probably happen about the same time I start some serious half-marathon training! Keep an eye out for the next update - it'll probably be about the other runs I'm adding in!<br /><br /><b>If there's one thing you learn from this</b> - let it be that anything is possible. In March I had never run before, <b>now I'm sponsored for four races</b>. Wait...did I say four? You'll have to find out about the other two next time ;-) Don't forget to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sothisisfitness" target="_blank">"like" the Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/SnuffyDX" target="_blank">follow the Twitter </a>- I post more frequent updates there - you might get some cool insider info!