Oh..."the big race"..

>

When in the course of human events, there are certain events that just reach beyond the realms of this galaxy. American ships getting hijacked by Jack Sparrow, Rutgers football ranked in the top 10 for a period of time, and Paul & Ringo sharing a stage together at Radio City Music Hall. But there’s something even more earth-shattering. Ryan J. Peene will be running in a half-marathon on May 3^rd. For many years prior, "I choose not to run" was my mantra. (as you can tell from the picture to the left, taken many hours before the Giants walk through the "Canyon of Heroes" last year)

Next Sunday is the 1 year anniversary of when I ran my first 5k. My father recruited me to run the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge with him. Father & Son, plodding along together, taking in the toxic fumes that would make Ed Begley, Jr. drop dead. I finished....in 36 minutes and change. A few weeks later, I looked out my window from the 3rd floor of the Parker House and I saw all these people with their Spring Lake 5 t-shirts on. My goal would be to run in the Spring Lake 5 next year. Well, after a summer of running in the shadow of the "golden dome" (graduate school was also known to some of my friends as "Catholic fat camp"), plodding through various towns on the Jersey shore like Forrest Gump, and aided by the cardiovascular benefits of the game of squash, I brought my time down 9 minutes to 27 in the beginning of October (and 30 lbs too). Stumbling across the line of the Spring Lake 5 would indeed be a reality.

But things change. One of those people in my life that had that make a lasting impact found his way back home to the Garden State. Father Geno Sylva returned from Rome having been studying in the shadow of St. Peter's Basilica for the past 3 years . Many of you know of him from his time at DePaul or at St. Anthony's. Many of you have also likely been inspired by him one way or another in your own right. The Diocese of Paterson assigned him to the daunting task of bringing Catholics back to a church which has fought some losing PR battles over the past 20 years. Where the Bailey-Ellard mansion stands (and the high school once populated) on 26 acres in Madison is the future home of St. Paul Inside the Walls Center for Catholic Evangelization at Bailey-Ellard.

At the first meeting I attended, Father Geno was putting together a team for the New Jersey Half-Marathon. On that day in early February, I said yes without much thought. I thought it would be a great challenge. So I've been training. Like Hawthorne's own "Anorexic Annie" before me, I've been making my way across the major thorofares in the Hawthorne,Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Franklin Lakes area. (God, I wish it would get warm already)

The Catholic Church, over the past 30 years has lost 30% of its membership, and roughly 10% of all Americans are former Catholics . (startling statistics for us Catholics) St. Paul's Inside the Walls has the goal of reaching out to many constituencies who have been neglected or driven away from the perceived coldness of the Catholic church. From youth, to single parents, to the disabled, to Catholic lawyers & politicians, to veterans, as well as educators, will all be brought in to help bring people back to the faith, as well as establish the center as one of the pre-eminent places for Catholic thought. Please help me make this a reality.

On May 3rd, I'll be running with (check that: likely behind) Father Geno and other members of the St. Paul team as we all descend upon Long Branch and run the 13.1 miles that constitute a "half-marathon".

Consider helping me out (just for the sheer sport of knowing that). I don't want to stand in front of the Market Basket with a used coffee cup that says "We're Happy to Serve You" in an Asian-type font. All I'm asking for is $10. Thats less than the cost of a foo-foo drink in a martini glass at any bar in Manhattan or now, even New Jersey. Its less than the cost of a pound of fresh mozzarella at any great italian specialty store. Heck, its less than a movie at any theater. I'm not going to have a thermometer, or a page tracking my progress, or any of those other artificial fundraising methods employed by large organizations that drive me crazy. This is it.

Though, if you want to buy me a beer at Harrigan's in Sea Girt after, that's fine too.