CCFA Team Challenge - Half-Marathon in Miami - January 2009
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What's the good word people? This is iCON the Mic King. As you can see I've redirected my efforts towards something new. No I have not quit rhyming or anything to that effect but right now I'm involved in something that I feel is very important and I want to use my voice to make a difference.
Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis are little publicized digestive disorders that 1.4 million Americans and even millions more worldwide suffer from. The symptoms are not glamorous in any way so I don't even want to get into them. Visit the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America website to learn more on the diseases themselves.
People keep asking me why I got involved. Do I have Crohn's or Colitis? The answer is no.
Let me tell you a story....I was in the train station in New York City on June 4th, 2008 just lost in thought. Kinda just lost period. I'd just got back to America from London, went straight to the studio with Louis Logic to do the "Dos Factotum" 80's Remix...but I just didn't feel like I was anywhere. I could have been anywhere. I felt like a ghost.
That's when I saw an ad on a trashcan for the CCFA Take Steps walk and I wrote down the website and said "hey, why not?" I just felt a need to do something positive, something mattered outside of me. So I got some friends together and we did it. We walked. In the 2-3 weeks between that time and the walk I found out that 2 of my friends in the city had one of these diseases and a member of my team, her brother was diagnosed just days after I convinced her to walk with me!! Wow, right?
We raised over $1000 and we had a fun time walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from the South Street Seaport. I honestly don't know how much of a difference we made, but whatever we did accomplish felt good!
Then I heard about the half-marathon. 13.1 miles. Sheeeit. I don't know, y'all! I haven't run in years!!!
Then I went to a meeting. They told me about the kids we'd be running for. Yes, I said kids. One of our kids is 9 years old. He loves baseball. Crohn's patients take a lot of pills and his parents give him his pills in a shot glass!! I thought that was tight. So next time I go on tour, I'm gonna collect shot glasses for him.
Again, I was compelled to say "hey, why not?"
Then I went to the kick-off party for our team and I heard more information. I heard that it's possible that a cure can be found in the next 20 years. But really left an impact was hearing some people with the diseases speak. They all had such fervor for life, they spoke as though every day is truly a gift! I was truly inspired! I just wanted to do something! Anything!
Why shoot the breeze about it when you can be about it? So this is what I'm doing. I'm training. I'm running. I'm lifting weights. I'm raising money. I'm donating my time. I'm donating my music. I'm donating the first 500 copies of the new record ("Flavor Ade" - the precursor to "Cool Aide"). The only way to get one is to donate $10 or more to CCFA. Once you do that, shoot me an email and I will send out your copy of "Flavor Ade" when they arrive. In fact you can't buy anything from me for the rest of the year. The only way to purchase something from my online store is to donate the value of what you want to CCFA. Even if you don't want music, I would appreciate you donating anything even a $1. The donations go directly to CCFA. I never handle the money.
Oh yeah one more thing. I'm having a pair of Nike IDs custom made for the race. I'm only gonna wear them once - the day of the race. After that I'm gonna put them up on eBay for auction. Yessir!
I'm keeping a blog of my training progress over at
www.iconthemicking.com. So come by and drop some words of encouragement. And please help me spread the word.
Thank you for reading and thank you for helping me make a difference.
I gotta run. Run for your life.
Peace.
-iCON the Mic King 10/6/08
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