I've been talking a lot about all these road races I'm doing in the next two months - the 5K (from Sunday), the two 10K's, and of course the half-marathon. I'm fortunate so many companies have signed on to sponsor me - they have made it possible for me to do these races and to continue to do work for a great cause (please be sure to check out <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/p/sponsors.html" target="_blank">the sponsors page</a> and see who's helped me out - they're all great!). I've only made a small announcement on Facebook, but the big news is -<br /><br /><b>I'm fundraising for <a href="http://www.jimmyv.org/" target="_blank">The V Foundation For Cancer Research</a>!</b><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f70yhYqH3Mk/UkON7n9SwoI/AAAAAAAABzA/466xqGDiB7o/s1600/JimmyVLogo.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f70yhYqH3Mk/UkON7n9SwoI/AAAAAAAABzA/466xqGDiB7o/s400/JimmyVLogo.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><br />Yes, this campaign of runs is a fundraising campaign, and the fundraising officially started a few days ago. <a href="http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SoTHISIsFitness/ccm13" target="_blank">You can visit my online fundraising page here</a> if you'd like to make a contribution. All of my training, <a href="http://sothisisfitness.com/meet-darrell/my-journey" target="_blank">My Story</a>, and <a href="http://sothisisfitness.com/meet-darrell/my-journey" target="_blank">My Transformation</a> has made this possible.<br /><br /><b> </b><br /><b>So...what IS The V Foundation and why do I (you) care?</b><br /><b></b><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>&nbsp;</b>The V Foundation's mission statement, found on their website, is:<br /><br /><i>The V Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to saving lives  by helping to find a cure for cancer.&nbsp; The Foundation seeks to make a  difference by generating broad-based support for cancer research and by  creating an urgent awareness among all Americans of the importance of  the war against cancer.&nbsp; The Foundation performs these dual roles  through advocacy, education, fundraising, and philanthropy.</i><br /><br />The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by former NCAA basketball coach and N.C. State Athletic Director Jim Valvano with the assistance of ESPN. It was announced in a tear-jerking speech at the 1993 ESPY awards (seen below).<br /><br /><br /><br />Basically, Jimmy V was diagnosed with terminal cancer and wanted to help find a cure. Going through it from the patient side of it, he realized just how slowly cancer research fundraising ended up benefiting the actual patient, so he sought to speed up the process. Jimmy V passed away just two months after his ESPY speech, but 20 years later The V Foundation is going strong, making an impact, and working hard towards realizing his ultimate goal of finding a cure.<br /><br /><b>So what exactly am I doing to help?</b><br /><br />I am running four races to raise awareness and raise money for The V Foundation. One of them has already happened, the other 3 are all in the month of October.<br /><b> </b><br />9/22/13 - <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/2013/09/what-is-good-enough-tavern2tavern5k.html" target="_blank">Tavern to Tavern 5K - Cambridge, MA (finished 200/722 - time: 23:51 - 7:45 min/mile)</a><br />10/5/13 - <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/2013/08/getting-things-in-mocean-running-update.html" target="_blank">Canal Run For The Troops 10K - Buzzard's Bay, MA</a><br />10/20/13 - <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/2013/09/2-months-4-runs-one-great-cause.html" target="_blank">31st Annual Boston Firefighters Local 718 Memorial Road Race 10K - Dorchester, MA</a><br />10/26/13 - <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/2013/08/on-to-next-one-131.html" target="_blank">Cape Cod Marathon Half - Falmouth, MA</a><br /><br />I'm currently fundraising through word of mouth and online through social media. You can, again, reach my online fundraising page here:<br /><a href="http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SoTHISIsFitness/ccm13">http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SoTHISIsFitness/ccm13</a><br />&nbsp;I'm in the process of brainstorming a fundraising event to hold locally. More on that soon (I hope!).<br /><br /><b>Why The V Foundation?</b> <br /><br />I know there are a million charities out there I could be fundraising for and some people have asked me how/why I chose The V Foundation. The answer is very simple: My college fraternity - <a href="http://www.deltachi.org/" target="_blank">The Delta Chi Fraternity, Inc.</a> - partnered up with The V Foundation in 2006. Almost every philanthropy event I did as an undergraduate member of my Chapter was to benefit The V Foundation...needless to say I had a lot of exposure to it and what it stood for. After raising over $2,800 for Dana-Farber through my Falmouth Road Race run, I thought it'd be nice to do something similar for the first charity I ever really worked with and that I had such ties to. All money raised through this campaign will be donated to The V Foundation on behalf of The Boston Area Alumni Chapter of Delta Chi. <br /><br /><b>So why should I care? And why should I contribute?</b><br /><br />These days it seems like everything causes cancer. We're figuring out every day that something else we've gotten used to can give us cancer! Even some of those who do their best to avoid carcinogens can be struck by the disease, and unfortunately, nearly everyone has a friend or family member who has been touched by some form of cancer. Cancer has stumped the world's top scientists for years, and the research necessary to learn more and figure out how to beat cancer takes a lot of time, training and equipment which, of course, costs a lot of money.&nbsp; By contributing to fundraising for organizations like The V Foundation, we can help build up the funds needed for grants to help researchers who are working so hard to find a cure. <br /><b> </b><br /><b>Please help me make this a successful fundraising campaign!</b><br /><br />On behalf of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and The Boston Area Alumni Chapter of The Delta Chi Fraternity, Inc. I thank you all in advance for your help, support, and generosity! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to reach out and ask - Darrell@SoTHISIsFitness.com<br /><b> </b><br /><a href="http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SoTHISIsFitness/ccm13"><b>http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/SoTHISIsFitness/ccm13</b></a>