Saturday, January 17, 2015

Project Purple Raffle 2015

I posted last with about a venture that I am undertaking for the new year.  I am Fighting Pancreatic Cancer with Project Purple!  Last year you may have remembered that I ran the Lincoln (Half) Marathon under the Project Purple flag.  If not, you can read about it HERE.  This year I'm doing it again.  This time I will be completing the full marathon.  I have also increased my goal amount to raise.  Last year I raised $600 for Project Purple.  My goal was $500.  This year I am upping the ante and trying to raise $650!  I figure that I should be able to raise more than I did last year.

So, this year I'm holding a raffle for a couple of prizes to help "drum" up donations for Project Purple.  The two prizes are going to be a Fitbit Zip and a Runner's Fuel Box put together by me.  So, the box could contain some Gu, some Clif Shot Bloks, some EnergyBits, some bars, or.....who knows.  We'll see what I can come up with.


You may ask what you will be funding.  Project Purple helps families in so many ways.  If you haven't read last week's post you can do so here.  A quick list of things are:
  • Help with medical bills
  • Help with day to day bills
  • Care bag for those in treatment
  • Scholarships for family members

So, how are the entries going to work.  For every $10 you donate you get 1 (one) entry. So, if you donate $20 you will get 2 (two) entries.  I have also added "bonus" entries for the $50 marks.  So, if you donate $50 you will get the 5 (five) entries plus a bonus entry for a total of 6 (six) entries!  I have also added bonus entries for learning more about Project Purple by going to their Facebook Page and following on Twitter.  There will also be a daily tweet that will gain you an additional entry each day that you do it.  In order to donate you will need to go to my Crowdrise.  You can get there using the following link: https://www.crowdrise.com/DreadmillDrummerPP2015.

For those paying attention to what this says, if you donate and comment below you can request me to do 10 burpees.  I borrowed this from by teammate Pedro of the Blackshirt Spartans.  Oh, and I will also do a daily blog post for each person that requests this and as an added bonus I will video each set and include it in the posting.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

Giveaway ends February 28th, 2015 at 12:00 AM CST. Open to Residents of the Earth.  Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.  Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Rafflecoptor, and Google+ are in no way associated with this giveaway.  By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone.  I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.

How to Enter: In order to access additional entry options you must go to my Crowdrise fundraiser at https://www.crowdrise.com/DreadmillDrummerPP2015 and donate $10 or more.  Once you donate the minimum you can accept your 1st entry into the giveaway.  Each additional $10 earns another entry that you must accept.  (i.e. $10 earns you 1 entry, but $20 earns you 2 entries.)  Bonus entries are given at the $50 increment levels.  (i.e. If you donate $50 you gain a bonus entry.  If you donate $100 you get the bonus for the $50 mark and the $100 mark.)  If you donate more that $100 and need entries beyond there, please contact me and I will add an option for your additional entries.

ALL ENTRIES WILL BE VERIFIED!

Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Fighting Pancreatic Cancer With Project Purple

Project Purple Lincoln

 Last year I ran the Lincoln Marathon for Project Purple.  Who or what is Project Purple?  Project Purple is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that raises funds to help fight pancreatic cancer.   Not only do they raise funds to help with pancreatic cancer research as most organizations do, but they also help the families that are or have been afflicted with this disease.  They provide financial assistance for those that are struggling while being treated and even partnered with a local hospital to provide newly diagnosed patients with a care bag that has a hat, blanket, and a scarf to help comfort those being treated for the first time.  Another way that they help is through scholarships for the family of those that have pancreatic cancer.  Just last year they donated $150,000.00 to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for pancreatic cancer research under the direction of Dr. Hollingsworth.  So, they even helped out in the community in which I live and run.

Here are some facts about Pancreatic Cancer:

  • 4th deadliest cancer
  • Survival rate after 5 years is only 3%.
  • Only cancer in the top 10 with a single digit survival rate.
  • Least funded of the top 10 cancers
  • Can cause jaundice, weight loss, pain, digestive problems, blood clots, and diabetes


Project Purple at UNMC

So, what is my part with Project Purple you may ask.  Well, I am running the Lincoln Marathon for the Project Purple Lincoln Marathon Team.  As a part of this I am also raising funds to help support their efforts.  Last year my goal was to raise $500 and I was able to raise $600.  So, this year my personal goal is to up the ante a little and try to raise $650!  You can check out my Crowdrise fundraiser at https://www.crowdrise.com/DreadmillDrummerPP2015/fundraiser/cecilvermule.  If you can only donate $1, that is all I ask.  If you can donate $10, that is awesome.  If you can donate more, I couldn't thank you enough.  Help me reach my goal and help those affected by this disease both directly and indirectly.

The 2014 Project Purple Team
The 2014 Project Purple Team
You can check out more and follow Project Purple online in the ways below:


Help me relive last year's 13.1 finish and make that 26.2 this year!
Help me relive last year's 13.1 finish for Project Purple and make that 26.2 this year!


Until next time, keep those beats coming!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Return of the Drummer

So, I haven't realized how long is been since my last post. I haven't posted since right before The Lincoln Marathon. So I haven't posted in over 6 months!  That's 1/2 of a year! Holy cow!  I know it's been a little while, but wow!  So, that means that I have content that I need to share. I also owe any that read my small slice of the web an apology for being so absent.  While I have been sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media I haven't shared here.  So, I start 2015 with an apology and a promise to work harder at remembering to share.




So, 2014 started with me having an unspoken goal of being the "year of endurance." What do I mean by that? Well, I had the goal of running my 1st marathon, a small chance goal of possibly running my 2nd marathon (wasn't totally set on this), then I had the goal to run my 1st 50k, the goal of running my 2nd 50k, and of course finishing another Spartan Race as we all know I like ORCs.  No that's not "orc" as in the mythical creature famous in the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, but ORC as in Obstacle Race Course (also OCR, Obstacle Course Racing).  With the 1st goal of running my 1st marathon, that ended up being my next half marathon instead. The possibility of a 2nd marathon this year, that wasn't a dead set goal since it was going to be so close to my 1st 50k.  My 1st 50k was going to be the Market to Market 50k. I even paid my registration for this, but I didn't double check the date before I registered. It was the same day as my niece's wedding that officiated. So, I couldn't run it. And unfortunately there wasn't an option to transfer it to another run or another runner. And I was going to rerun the G.O.A.T.z Trail Run that I ran last year as a 21 mile run, but I was going to step it up to the 50k this year. Well, my wife went out of town for her business so that is more important. And the Spartan Race that I was going to run was been canceled. So, this hasn't been the year for runs for me.

I have considered writing off formalized runs and just continuing to run for me and my family. The part that stops me from actually "doing that" is that they are a way to set goals and the run directors set the courses for you. So, they do part of the work for you. And my buddy Geoff from Sasquatch in Public is trying to convince me to run The Hawk. It's a marathon, a 50 mile, or a 100 mile run on technical trails. And it is within days of my birthday. So, I am thinking that it will be my birthday run next year and will be my goal for next year.  And as of this week I have official confirmation that I have been accepted to run the The Lincoln Marathon again this year under the Project Purple charity again!! So, this makes me so excited to help raise funds to help beat Pancreatic Cancer!  If you wish to help me hit my goal this year can donate to my Crowdrise account here: https://www.crowdrise.com/DreadmillDrummerPP2015/fundraiser/cecilvermule.  If you wish to help please go and donate.  You can also join my team to help me hit my fundraising goal!  If you are interested follow the link above or send me a message and I'll help.

I also didn't get to announce on the blog that I am now a Bioskin Ambassador!  So, be sure to check out the posts when I share about their awesome products!

Final thoughts:

What goals are the rest of drumline going for in 2015?

What let downs have you had in your training/goals that have set you back in your thinking that you are going to still try to accomplish?


Until next time, keep those beats coming!