May is Lupus Awareness Month - 2010

May is Lupus Awareness Month. Please join the Lupus Runners (Brian Thomas, Deb Frerick, Tim C. Smith, Cruz Pitre) and the Lupus Foundation of America as we Band Together for Lupus™. Our goal is to raise funds for Lupus research and to bring awareness of this disease to a broader audience.

I know the debilitating affects of Lupus; my wife, Michelle, has lupus. I also have a first cousin, friends (including one of our Lupus Runner, Deb), and several friends with family members that have been diagnosed with this disease.

I'm continuing Brian Thomas' blog (was http://www.lupusrunner.org/) to help raise funds to fight this disease. The Lupus Runner group raises awareness and funds by participating in Lupus walks and by also running in various races throughout the year. Some of our runners' Lupus fund-raising and awareness have garnered the attention of the news media.

Michelle and I at the North Texas Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America's Walk for Lupus Now 3 mile walk.

 Michelle's Mates at the North Texas Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America's Walk for Lupus Now 3 mile walk.

Michelle's Mates at the Kennedale Art in the Park 1 mile Fun walk.

My wife and I started last month by getting a group together to raise money during two events. On April 17th, the Kennedale's Art in the Park 1 mile Fun Run.  On April 24th, the North Texas Chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America's Walk for Lupus Now 3 mile walk. We raised $549.50 between both events. Since 2007 the Lupus Runner group have raised over $12,000 for the Lupus Foundation of America. Can you help us continue our cause?

To donate, simply click the "Donate" button on the FirstGiving donation widget on the top right hand side, or go to the FirstGiving page at http://www.firstgiving.com/lupus_runners. When you make a donation, please add a comment. Add "For Cruz" or any other Lupus Runner's name, or something that makes it obvious that your donation arose from reading this page.

God Willing, we will continue to participate in various fund raising/running events throughout the year. We will update the events list to the right of this page in order to continue raising money for the Lupus Foundation of America, through the FirstGiving page. So please, continue your donations, no matter how small.

We should note that we've "followed the money" and all donations go directly to the Lupus Foundation of America. None of it goes to any Lupus Runner. We are only facilitating the fundraising. After you donate you will be able to print out a receipt page and you'll also get an email receipt. If you would prefer not to donate online, you may contact us for our "snail mail" address. We'll donate your money in your name, and send you a receipt.

Thanks,
Brian, Deb, Tim, and Cruz

Visit www.lupus.org/lupusmonth.

Thanks for all of your support these last three years!

As anyone who has come across this blog recently has probably noticed, it hasn't been very active lately. After spending three years building up Lupus Runners and working with other dedicated runners to raise over $12,000 for the Lupus Foundation of America, I have officially redirected the domain name for Lupus Runners (www.lupusrunner.org) over to Cruz Pitre. These past few years I have been pleasantly surprised at how our group has grown and am glad to see that there are so many runners who are willing to contribute their time and energy fundraising even though my time and energy has been limited this past year.

I look forward to continuing to run in 2010 and have my sights on Burning River again. Tim Smith is also putting together a 50k in November or December to help raise more money to fight Lupus. I would love to make it out for that run. I'll also do what I can to continue to help raise money and heighten awareness. Perhaps in a year or so I will sign back on, but I'll probably take a break for 2010. If you are ultrarunner, I'd encourage you to check out Tim's race at http://www.chemsmith.net/50k.html. If you are interested in helping raise money to fight Lupus, I would encourage you to check out Cruz's blog at http://www.lupusrunner.org. Thanks again to everyone who has supported me and the rest of the Lupus Runners over these past three years. Your money has gone to a great cause and your comments and emails have helped inspire our group. See you on the trails.

Posted for Brian Thomas at 6:01 PM