By: Donny Prater
After the birth of our second son Rylan, I decided that it was time for me to get my then, 36 year old body back into shape. Afterall, two boys meant twice the work, so I knew that I had to be in much better condition. I was 40 pounds overweight, got out of breath walking up a flight of stairs, and the most exercise I got was going from the couch to the refrigerator to grab a snack.
Since I had a running background, I decided that’s what I would do. I hadn’t run since getting out of the Army in 1998, but I knew that somewhere inside of me was a runner, just waiting to be released. So, I started slowly, and worked my way up to my first 5K race in May 2008. I enjoyed the race so much (even though I placed last in my age group) that I signed up for a 10K in July, and a Mini-Marathon in November. Though lofty, those races were what kept me motivated to train and keep stretching my distance out little by little.
Long story short, I ran in two more 5K’s and completed the Mini-Marathon. But the greatest thing I got out of it all was the fact that I had made fitness part of my lifestyle and didn’t dread working out like I used too.
After the Mini-Marathon, I needed new goals. I started listing the races I planned to compete in during the 2009 season, but I also started trying to think outside of my running and racing box, and trying to answer the simple questions:
“What motivates me to do this? What keeps me running, swimming, cycling, and lifting weights like a crazy person? Was it the t-shirt you get for entering a race? Or was it some kind of a mid-life crisis?”
With all of these questions swirling in my head, and after much prayer, I came to one simple question:
“Who do I run for?”
I quickly realized that I run for my family. Since they are the most important thing to me, I train so that I can be in good physical shape for them. I don’t do it to try and challenge anyone in hopes of being the “Fastest Guy Around”. I simply do it so I can be the best husband and father that I can be.
Running for my family, lead me to thinking about how I can best honor them through my pain and sweat generated in the training process. And that’s the moment Rylan’s Miles to Miracles Foundation was born. I thought to myself, “What if someone would sponsor me with some amount of money per mile, per race, per whatever they want to give, and I could in turn donate that money to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the hospital where Rylan was born?” So I embarked upon a quest with my wife to launch a foundation that would do just that.
And that’s what I’ve done for the past few years. I am now running an cycling in several events each year, and ask for your help through sponsorship. Or, let me ask you this: “Who do you run for?” If you don’t have an anwser, would you consider finding a sponsor/s for yourself so that you can run/walk/swim/cycle or however you plan to compete, in a race that would raise money for our foundation? There is no other group out there raising money for NICU babies, and I can tell you from experience that there is so much work that needs to be done.
On On!
Donny Prater
