I'm super excited to be running the Dopey Challenge this coming January. This effort consists of 4 races on 4 separate back to back days - a 5K, 10K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon - this is, by all measures and self-admittedly, an incredibly "Dopey" thing to do. I expect that this is going to be extremely hard. I am going to get tired. I'm going to get to mile 22 on race day and say "okay, this was maybe a bad idea". That's fine. I will get over the finish line, feel accomplished, and know that I was able to do a hard thing.
What is special about this event is that it's a great opportunity to bring awareness to another very hard thing that is near and dear to my heart - Autism and Neurodiversity - and being able to do so on this platform in partnership with the Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism.
For those not familiar, it is extremely difficult to support neurodiverse individuals in today's world. As a society, we sometimes lack empathy and understanding for our extensive neurodiverse population and struggle to comprehend how common things like sounds, sights, people, external pressures - anything really - can overwhelm and severely impact daily function - and how to appropriately react to those who are struggling through an event.
One of the things that really resonated with me about the Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism is that the focus is on the care, support, and acceptance of those with autism - and bringing community awareness and inclusion efforts into focus to improve lives. These are not people to be forgotten and managed - they are our loved ones, they are vibrant, capable members of our communities and we should seek to develop a better sense of understanding and compassion for those afflicted, in the hopes that we can develop a more caring world that can enable these individuals to truly thrive.
I'm going to run 48.6 miles over 4 days this January. That's going to be hard. There are much harder things in this world - ask any parent that struggles with the challenges that raising a neurodiverse/autistic child can bring on a daily basis. If I can in some way bring some level of awareness to that effort, and can in some way aid those less fortunate and less supported through the Doug Flutie Jr Foundation for Autism - then this will be 100% worth it.