WOW!!!! What a fabulous weekend in Memphis! We all made it, some in a little better shape than others, but the main thing is everyone who started, made it across the finish line. This has been such an incredible weekend, once again words can not describe it.

When my body and my brain catch up on a little rest, I have ALOT to tell you and give you some reports on but for now I did want to touch base on a couple of things..

First - ABC 24 News out of Memphis featured Team Ethan on their Marathon coverage. So we had the awesome experience of having a photojournalist following us at our planned events all weekend. His name is Ryan, and he was just awesome. I will say he added an extra bit of excitement and fun to our weekend. And the best part, he is now an official member of Team Ethan! He actually wore our team shirt and ran with some of our different team members carrying his camera on his shoulder, and he did it in record time! He put some of us to shame! LOL It really was alot of fun having him around. You can see the video clip that aired on ABC News on Saturday night in Memphis at ABC24.com just click on videos, then click on "Thousands run for St Jude"

Second - At this point our team has raised just over $14,500.00 for St Jude!! Donations are still coming in and I'd love to see us hit the $20,000.00 mark. So if you did not get to come and be a part of this awesome experience, I do ask if you can reach into the bottom of your pockets and make a donation to the team or one of the team members. Ben's page is www.stjudeheroes.org/users/benpowell and Becky's is www.stjudeheroes.org/users/ethansmom Or you can go to stjudeheroes.org and find our team and select any of the team members that you choose to donate to. It really does not matter, bottom line it all goes to St Jude.

As of Saturday morning, the entire marathon has raised around 1.8 million dollars. To put this huge amount of money into perspective.... it cost just under $1.4 million a day, yes... I did say EACH DAY to cover the operating cost for St Jude. So all of this fundraising and hard work for this big weekend only covers the cost for ONE DAY! I encourage you to look into the many ways you can help this wonderful hospital in your local area or just on your own. Keep in mind, St Jude never ever turns away a child for treatment because of the inability for a family to pay and no family has ever received a bill for anything from St Jude. They do take what your insurance pays if you have insurance. They operate totally on fundraising and donations from people like me and you doing what we can to support this wonderful hospital.

More info and stories from the weekend and also pictures will be posted later, but I did want to get out a little "teaser" for you. More to come....

Thank you to those of you who did make this trip. Leave some comments to let others know about your experience here. Start saving up pennies in a jar for next year to come back and bring a friend with you. It is just to much fun to miss out on!!!

It was great to see you all again, already missing each of you and looking forward to next year!

When you say "GO TEAM ETHAN" I can tell you... TEAM ETHAN WENT ALL THE WAY TO THE FINISH LINE!!!!!!!!

Thank you all again,

Mardecia and Allison

Good Morning!!

It's a very cool morning in Memphis this morning. I am looking at the forecast for the weekend at this very moment, at this point it is forecasting partly sunny (no rain) with a low of 30 for Friday night and a high of 52 for Saturday. No rain is what we are looking for! One thing you have to love about Memphis... if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes...it'll change. Hopefully this forecast will hold. Last year it was pretty brisk when we got started, but warmed up to a very comfortable temp by the time we got going good.

A few things to keep in mind. First of all, and very important, I need to touch base with you about the St Jude Hospital tour. Just a reminder, no children under the age of 16 are allowed on the tours. They are very strict regarding this. Also, if you are sick, please for the sake of the children whose immune systems are very low, do not participate in the tour as you will be coming in contact with some of the patients.

***If you have RSVP'd that you will be attending, I have your name on a list that has been turned in to the lady organizing our tour for us. That list will be posted at each gate. Your name must be on the list to enter the gates. This is a security precaution to protect the children at the hospital. You will be asked for your driver license, so be prepared. Please allow time for the gate check in process, depending on how many are trying to get through the gate at the same time, it can take a few minutes. We need to meet in the main hospital lobby no later than 12:45. Make sure that you are in the main hospital and not in the lobby of the Chili's building, this can be a little confusing if you are not familiar with the hospital. I will meet you in the lobby, and I have name tags already prepared that you will need to pick up. Our tour will begin promptly at 1:00 pm. Our tour "lady" has another appointment at 2 pm so we must be on time and ready to go to get our full tour in.

For those at the team hotel, the hotel is hosting a Welcome Reception at 5:00 pm on Friday afternoon. Just meet in the lobby of the hotel. Again, we have name tags for everyone so come on down and get to know your teammates or have a reunion with the ones you may already know.

We will move from the hotel to Macaroni Grill for our dinner reservations at 6:30. Just let them know at the reservations desk that you are a part of St Jude, Team Ethan. Just to recap, dinner will include: bread, salad, main entree, tea, coke etc. and we will have that wonderful delish cake that we had last year. So a full meal for our special price of $10.00 per person. We will have a limited menu available to us at that price, but there will be 3 choices and each choice is one of Macaroni Grill's signature dishes. I promise it's all good!! Final count for the dinner will be turned in today to the restaurant.

We will be joined at the dinner by a few extra guest. Some of you followed Sully along with Ethan, his parents and Hannah plan to join us as well as another patient that some of you followed too, Natalie Cravens. Natalie, her twin sister and parents plan to join us for dinner too. Each of these families have their own hero teams, but did want to join us for dinner to meet many of you who supported them and prayed for them.

Don't forget to pack your t-shirts! Let's show Memphis exactly who Team Ethan is!!! I hope to get a team picture at some point. We'll have to work on that one! Please bring your team shirt to Macaroni Grill with you, we might have to slip them on and try to get a group picture at that time. I'd like to get it before the run starts, but since we will not all be doing the same run, that might be impossible to get everyone together before or after... we'll see!


Ok, enough for today! do you realize it is FINALLY here! WooHoo!! This will be a life changing experience for you. I am so excited about what we as a group are able to do for this wonderful hospital. Keep up the good work!

Oh yea.. I do have one more thing... there will be door prizes at the dinner!! You must be present to win, but there will be prizes for a) who traveled the farest b) who raised the most money for the team and other prizes to.

If you need anything, you can email me and I'll try to help.

Have a great week! See you this weekend!!!

Mardecia
rebelmom528@aol.com

All shirts have been shipped out. I have one that has not, but that person has been notified. There are some others who have not yet received theirs, I guess this is the true definition of "snail mail". Sorry that it is taking a little longer for some to get to you, but hopefully it will arrive soon, and you will find it was "worth the wait". Again, thank you for your support.

Just a reminder, online donations are still open, you can go to www.stjudeheroes.org and look up Team Ethan if you would like to make a donation either personal or business to this great cause. You can go directly to a team member or just make an overall team donation. Thank you again.

Team Members... more info regarding the marathon weekend will be coming, plans are all coming together and we are looking forward to being together and "taking our steps for a cure"!!!!!

We were $5 short of $7,000.00 last night. I have not looked today, but if as Ben suggested, everyone who goes to the site would donate just $5.00, look where we could be. There are 40+ of us this year, last year 20+ of us raised over $25,000.00 for St Jude... I KNOW WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!!!

T-Shirts are on their way! Some got theirs today. Post a comment and let us hear from you, tell us what you think about the shirts!!

Our goal... Taking Steps For A Cure, one mile at a time!

Don't forget to get your donations turned in soon if you have checks. It is taking about 2 weeks for the checks to be posted on your goals page. Every dollar means so much to St Jude and to these families.

I am so excited that we have such a good turn out for the hospital tour. This is something that you will never forget. You will see what this whole weekend is really about. The families at St Jude.

Hello,

Exciting news: The t-shirts are in the mail!! So be watching your mailbox.

Also, I wanted to remind you that we need RSVP's for the events scheduled on Friday, December 5th. Please email to rebelmom528@aol.com by tomorrow. Thank you for doing this for us. It is important to get these numbers turned in to the hospital for them to make sure they have the tour set up with a manageable number of people in each group. The restaurant needs a number to, that goes without saying. LOL Eric, who is bending over backwards for us, needs a number to prepare for the "goodies" he is planning at the hotel Welcome Reception.

Thank You for helping us with this.

Kick in your fundraising here in the last few weeks, and let's show St Jude that Team Ethan loves and supports this hospital.

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO CONFIRM HOTEL ROOM WITH TEAM ETHAN AT THE DISCOUNTED TEAM RATE

After today, any rooms remaining in our reserved block of rooms will be returned to Hotel inventory to be rented out by the hotel. You can still call for a reservation, however it will be on space available and at the standard rate of the hotel at time of booking.

FAIRFIELD INN & SUITES BY MARRIOTT
MEMPHIS EAST
MEMPHIS,TN 38133

901-381-0085 Please ask for Eric, let him know you are with St Jude Team Ethan.

* Welcome Reception to be held at the hotel for all team members at 5:00 pm on December 5, 2008

We have another important deadline coming up this week I need to remind you of.

We are only about a month away from the Marathon Weekend. I am so excited. I need to let you know that the deadline date for reserving a room in the Team Ethan block of rooms at our team discounted rate is November 5, 2008. After this date, any remaining rooms being blocked will be returned to hotel inventory and the rooms will be on space available and at the current standard room rate. If you know you are coming, please go on and call Eric at the hotel, tell him your with the St Jude Team Ethan and make sure you get in our block of rooms and get our discounted rate. Eric is doing a great job for us. He is hosting a Welcome Reception for us around 5:00p.m. on Friday evening, and is accommodating us with an early breakfast since we must leave so early to get the the marathon. I really appreciate all of the help he is giving us.

A few other reminders... St Jude tour is planned for Friday, Dec. 5th at 1:00 pm, this is our private tour for just our group. I will need an email to get your name on the list as soon as you know if you will be a part of this tour.

When making arrival arrangements into Memphis, make sure you allow time to pick up registration packets.

Dinner plans to eat together are still underway... not sure on this one yet.

More to come, if you are not already, start checking the site pretty often, we will keep you posted on upcoming dates/deadlines and info.

Have a great week!

AND THE FINAL TOTAL IS........

178!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!! Thank you so much for your support! We are so proud of the t-shirt sales success.
Thanks once again to Jon Mark for the design. We couldn't have done this without you!!

T-SHIRT ORDERS ARE NOW CLOSED. Thank you so very much for your orders and your support of Team Ethan and St Jude Children's Research Hospital. We plan to have the shirts ready to ship out to you around November 15, 2008. We will post here when the shirts have gone out so you will know to be watching your mailbox.

Thank You... Keep training and getting ready! This is going to be so exciting. Our team has doubled in size from last year. Last year, 27 of us raised over $25,000.00!!! We would love to top that amount this year. What an awesome way honor Ethan!

Mardecia & Allison

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK TO ORDER TEAM ETHAN T-SHIRTS. ORDERS WILL CLOSE ON FRIDAY. DON'T MISS OUT, SHOW YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT.
THANK YOU

8 DAYS LEFT TO ORDER YOUR TEAM ETHAN T-SHIRT.
DON'T MISS OUT!!!

Hello Team Ethan and Team Ethan Supporters!!

The days are really beginning to go fast, it will be Marathon time before we know it. I just wanted to remind you that the deadline for ordering the 2008 Team Ethan T-shirt is coming up. October 31, 2008 is the last day available to order a shirt.
The order will be turned over to the T-shirt company on November 1, and I plan to have them in the mail back to you by November 15th. I do not plan to order extra's or place a second order. Full front and back design and the mail in order form is located on the Monday August 25, 2008 post. You can print off the order form by simply clicking on it and printing it off.

This has been very successful thus far. We do appreciate those of you who have ordered and plan to wear them on Marathon Day to show your support of the efforts of this team even if you can't make the trip yourself. Wow, that is a wonderful way to show your support. Also, a big thank you to those of you who are holding local fundraisers for the Team and sending those in. We have had people do yard sales, clothing sales, pancake dinners, chili dinners and other wonderful fundraisers to help out and again show support even if they can't make the trip to come to Memphis. Each effort being made is a huge boost for the Team and I know appreciated by the family. If anyone has access to any concert tickets, I heard of one group who had some tickets and auctioned them off on ebay as a team fundraiser... be creative.

Anyone may contribute to the Team as well, simply go to stjudeheroes.org/users/benpowell and click on DONATE NOW. Every dollar raised goes to help support the hospital. If you do a fundraiser, you may mail a check made out to Team Ethan to the following address:

Team Ethan
c/o Mardecia Sutton
P. O. Box 242
Brunswick, TN 38014

This will be turned in with the other team donations and will post on our Team Site with St Jude.

Again, thank you for all of your hard work so far.. DON'T LET UP! We still have work to do. Keep training! It's going to be a blast.

Have a great week,

Mardecia

Marathon Weekend Reminders & Update

Just wanted to update the "local" phone number for the hotel. For any of you have tried to make reservations using the 1-800 number I had listed, I apologize for any problems you may have run across trying to get to Eric. Try this number.... 901-381-0085. That is the direct local number for Fairfield Inn & Suites, 8489 Hwy 64, Memphis, TN. Our block of rooms at our discounted rate will be held until Nov. 5, 2008 and they are first come first serve, so don't hesitate on confirming your reservation. Ask for Eric when calling in and make sure you let him know you are with Team Ethan, St Jude Marathon Weekend.

Also, thank you for your wonderful response on the t-shirt orders. It is an awesome design and I, for one, will be so proud and honored to wear it on race day and any other day of the year too! If you have not seen the design or had an opportunity to order yours yet, go back to August 24th post and you can see the shirt and the ways to order your shirt. Even if you will not be able to come to Memphis for the Marathon weekend, please consider ordering a shirt to wear on that day and be an honorary Team Ethan member. 100% of the profit from the t-shirts will go to St Jude. This is an opportunity for you to help out St Jude as well as Team Ethan. Thank you, keep those orders coming in. The deadline on t-shirt orders is October 31, 2008. There will be one order placed, shirts will be shipped back out to you around November 15, 2008. There are no plans for additional orders after this date. Don't miss out!

Another reminder, the private Team Ethan tour of St Jude Hospital. This is a big deal to get this on that particular weekend!!! We are very lucky to get this set up, so if you would like to get the VIP tour, please go back and read that post for details on how you can be a part of that.

One last reminder for now, please keep in mind when making travel arrangements to include time to go downtown to pick up your registration packets. For you first time runners/walkers, there is a chip included in these packets that you MUST attach to your shoe before you start the race event.

All of the info here today in already on past post, but we just wanted to remind you of some deadline dates that will be coming up before we know it. Please take a few minutes to go back and review the past post when you get a chance.

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK! TEAM MEMBERS, WE NEED TO REALLY HIT THE FUNDRAISING EFFORTS AND GET TEAM ETHAN BACK IN THE TOP TEN!!!

Even if you are not on the team you can still do fundraisers and donate that money to Team Ethan. Several people have done that, and it is very much appreciated. They have had yard sales, consignment sales, bake sales, Chili cookoff dinners, luncheons, dress down days at work, etc. These are just a few of the things that some of the people are doing to help support our team even though they are not able to come to Memphis. TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE DOING THESE FUNDRAISERS IN ETHAN'S MEMORY, THE TEAM THANKS YOU VERY MUCH!!! KEEP UP THE GREAT EFFORTS.

Okay, enough from me. I have to hit the gym! Hope training is going well for all of you out there working so hard to get ready. I can't tell you how excited I am getting, I can't wait to see you all again and also meet our new members.

Have a great week...... GO TEAM ETHAN!

Mardecia

Some Exciting News!!

I know last year many of you said that you wished there had been an opportunity to tour St Jude. Well, I have some good news for all of the marathon participants! I have set up a private tour just for Team Ethan. I realize that we can not pick a time that will work with everyone's schedule, however I hope by posting this early enough that those of you who really want to include the tour on your trip this year, you will be able to fit it in your travel schedule. As of right now, I have set it up for around 1:00 p.m. on Friday, December 5, 2008. The time is not set in stone, but the date pretty much is. This may work very well for you to tour the hospital and be there to pick up registration packets. Then we would have time to get back to the hotel for the Welcome Reception and then meet for dinner together. Dinner plans are still up in the air, but we'll get more info on dinner plans later. If you will be joining us for the tour of St Jude, please send me an email by December 1, 2008 so I can let our wonderful tour guide know how many to expect. This is one you will not want to miss. Melba does a fantastic job with her tours and we can include Target House if time permits and you want to do that too.

A reminder: For the paypal button to work, you must sign in from the www.teamethanpowell.blogspot.com If you came to this page from Ethanpowell.com, the paypal button will not work for you.

*** Also, please take a minute and go back over the past post. We have dates to keep in mind. Don't forget hotel reservations, these rooms are blocked on a first come first serve basis.

It's getting close!!!! Oh yea, don't forget to order your Team Ethan t-shirt. We will make a team picture and would love to have everyone in their Team shirt for the picture. Also, those of you who will not be able to join us in Memphis, we encourage you to please help support Team Ethan's goal by purchasing a shirt or two and wearing them in Little e's honor and memory on race day. You can be an honorary Team Ethan member!!

One more reminder ---For those not able to come, if you would like to help with our total amount of funds raised for Team Ethan, you may make a donation to the Team, by going to www.stjudeheroes.org/users/benpowell Thank you.

Keep up the good work with your training and your fundraising. It's not to late to keep registering members to our team either.

Go Team Ethan!!!

Mardecia
rebelmom528@aol.com

Just a little glitch.....

...in the system. If you are here by way of www.ethanpowell.com , meaning you clicked on the link in Ben's post, you will not be able to use the "Buy Now" button to purchase your t-shirt. There is a simple solution. Just copy/paste this page's address to come directly to this page: www.teamethanpowell.blogspot.com . That should solve the problem and the button should work. If you still have problems, leave us a comment here (with your email address) and we will figure it out. Or you can print the order form and send it along with a check.

~Allison
GO TEAM ETHAN!!

Important Info For T-Shirt Orders

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments in response to this year's t-shirt. We are very proud to offer it to anyone who wishes to purchase one or five or etc.. We will be using this as a fundraiser for our team to go to St Jude. We hope that we sell a gazillion of them!! 100% of the profit from these shirts will go to St Jude. We are hoping that each person who has followed little "e", prayed for him and his family, have been touched by his life in some way will purchase one and wear it on December 6th in his honor and memory even if you are unable to make the trip to Memphis to participate in the marathon. We will be wearing this shirt proudly and in his memory as we walk/run on that day.

To keep our cost down so that more can go to St Jude, we will be taking orders until October 31, 2008. At that time, we will turn in one order to the shirt company and have them all printed at the same time. There will be ONE PRINT RUN on these shirts. The printer needs about a week to process our order, then our goal is to get them out in the mail back to you by the middle of November to ensure you have them in plenty of time for the marathon. We appreciate your orders and look forward to seeing you wearing the shirts with pride.

Recap on Dates:

Deadline to Order Shirts: October 31, 2008
Shirts To Be Mailed Out: November 15, 2008
Wear Them With Pride: December 6, 2008

Please help us to sell as many as possible, tell your friends who followed Ethan's story along with you about them.

Sizes available are Youth Medium up to Adult 3X. Please indicate Long Sleeve or Short Sleeve on your order. You can just write it in on the mail in form, or indicate in the size selection box on the online order form.

GO TEAM ETHAN!!!

Please keep in mind, if you leave a question in the comment section, you must leave an email address for us to respond to your question.

Packet Pick-up

Last year, Mardecia spent hours picking up the race packets for all of the team. Because of some glitches and things that didn't go very smoothly, we will all be picking up our own packets this year. Make sure to arrange to be in town in time to get your race packets.
You can pick them up:

Where: The Memphis Cook Convention Center in Downtown Memphis. Map (255 North Main St., ZIP 38103)

When: Thursday, December 4 (2 p.m. - 7 p.m.) and Friday, December 5 (11 a.m. – 8 p.m.)

or:

Saturday, December 6
6 a.m. – 7:30 a.m. Late packet pickup (for pre-registered participants only)
Marathon & Half Marathon – AutoZone Park
Memphis Grizzlies House 5K – FedExForum

Allison

And now..... what you've all been waiting for.....

It's the T-shirt design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This will go on the front pocket:



and this will be the back:


Now tell us what you think!

Allison

Team Ethan T-Shirt Order Form

After we post the T-shirt design, we will begin taking orders. There will be two options for ordering shirts this year. One way is the "Buy Now" button on the side of the blog to pay through paypal. You do not have to have a paypal account to use this button. You can pay with a debit or credit card just like you would for any other web purchases. The button will charge you $22.00 per shirt. That is $20 for the shirt and $2 for shipping for each shirt.
If you wish, you may also print the order form below and mail your order. The order form gives you the option of picking up your shirts in Memphis when you arrive for the marathon and can save the $2 shipping charges. You may choose one of these two ways.
In the next couple of days (probably tomorrow), you will see the shirt design and can begin placing your orders. We will soon let you know what the deadline for ordering will be, because we will only be placing one order with the t-shirt printer after the order deadline.




I'm excited about the t-shirt this year!! I can't wait to show it to all of you!!

Allison

Hotel Information

We will be using the same hotel as last year, they were very accommodating to our group and they are looking forward to us join them again this year. Please call in as soon as possible, I have blocked off a certain number of rooms at our discounted rate. When calling in to confirm your reservation on your credit card, please ask for Eric. Eric is the hotel manager and will be working with us during this time. The hotel will be hosting a "Welcome Reception" for Team Ethan members and families starting at 5:00pm. This will last about an hour. I am sorry to announce that there will not be a Team Ethan Dinner as we had last year. I know we previously announced there would be a dinner, I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. However, this will free you guys up to attend the St Jude hosted Pasta Party. One other thing I need to mention, please check the times for registration packet pick up. I will not be picking these up this year as I did for you last year. We had a glitch in the system and I do not want to cause any repeats of problems from last year. If you have any questions or concerns, please leave them in the comment section and we will get back to you. Please leave an email address to respond to if you have any questions.

BE WATCHING.... T-Shirt design and order info will be coming in the next few days!!!

Get registered and reserve your room at your earliest possible opportunity. Let's do our part and see if we can top our monies raised from last years total.

Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott
Memphis East
8489 Highway 64
Memphis, TN 38133
Reservations: 1-901-381-0085 ask for Eric, make sure you tell him you are a member of Team Ethan, St Jude Marathon event. This is very important for you to get our discounted rate.

GO TEAM ETHAN!!!

Registration Facts

Here is some registration information taken from http://www.stjudemarathon.org/ . Make note of the registration deadlines. Don't wait too long to register! Also, the registration fees go up as the deadlines get closer. The fees are lowest now, and they go up September 15th. Then they go up again November 17th.

NEW ... entries capped: To ensure the quality of the “race experience” for all participants, registrations will be limited to 3,000 in the marathon ... 8,000 in the half marathon ... and 3,000 in the Memphis Grizzlies House 5K.

There are three ways to register for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, Half Marathon, or Memphis Grizzlies House 5K (pending availability):
1. Register online now. In addition to the race registration fee, there will be a $1.50 processing fee for registering online. Online registration is available through 11:59 p.m. CST, Monday, December 1 only.
2. Download a printable registration form; complete and mail to the address at the bottom of the form or fax to 901-578-6696. Entry forms sent by USPS mail will be accepted if postmarked November 7 or before. Forms sent by express mail, fax, or hand delivery must be received by November 7.
3. If not sold out, register in person on Thursday, December 4 (2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ) or Friday, December 5 (11 a.m. to 8 p.m.) at the site of the Expo and Packet Pickup area at Memphis Cook Convention Center. There is NO RACE DAY REGISTRATION for any race. Entry fees paid may not be refunded, transferred, or deferred.

When you register to be a St. Jude Hero, make sure to join Team Ethan when you are given that option. If, a couple of days after you register you are not listed on the Team Ethan Heroes Page, contact us here and we will get in touch with the people who can fix it for you.

If you cannot participate in the race with us but would like to make a donation toward our goal, you can donate online here on Ben's page. If you would rather send a check payable to St. Jude Hospital, leave us a comment here with your email address and we'll get you an address to send that. We so appreciate all of your support.

I think that's all for now. If you are already registered for the race, see if you can talk a friend or family member in to coming with you. I've got one I'm working on!

Allison

Now that you've been overloaded with slideshows...

here's one more that Naomi put together last year.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

...and a few more pictures from last year

I really didn't know what to expect last year on race day. There was certainly an excitement about us when we got up and moving that Saturday morning. I had no idea that it would continue to build the entire day! I've never in my life had so much energy. Naomi and I finished the 5k and probably walked another 10 miles cheering for the half and full marathon racers. Seriously... my hands were almost bleeding from all of the clapping we did. We could barely talk after we finished all of our yelling. :-) There really is no way to describe the feeling you have when you walk those streets passing posters with precious bald babies on them held by the most awesome cheer leaders. Most of them are families of St. Jude patients. They are the reason we are there. They are the reason I will always go back.

Here is another quick slideshow of "race day." Sorry there is no brilliant audio to go with it. I'll figure it out one of these days. :-)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Some Pictures From Last Year

Last year, the evening before the race, Mardecia (and a few helpers) put together an amazing meal for our team. We had so much fun together. It was the first time many of us had met in person, but it felt like we'd known each other for years. This year our team will be even bigger, and I bet our dinner Friday evening before the race on Saturday will be just as wonderful. I hope to see you all there.
Here is a slide show (if I did it right :) ) of some pictures taken at last years dinner.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm so excited about Team Ethan this year. I need to get a move on in the fundraising department. Let's all get busy!!

Allison

Are you ready to lace up the running shoes?

The St. Jude Marathon is only a few months away and it's time to get registered and start your training!  The run is December 6, 2008 and as last year we will have a Team Ethan dinner the night before on December 5th at the same location as last year.  Great Oaks Church of Christ on Brunswick Rd. in Memphis.  The hotel will be the same as last year too.  Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott.  I will post the reservation information in the next few days.  I don't want to overwhelm you right now with info overload but I did want to get the info out that Team Ethan is forming again and we hope that everyone who participated last year will be able to join us again and bring some new Team Ethan members with you.  Last year we had a wonderful team and personally I felt it was one of the most touching things I have ever participated in.  You can go to www.stjudemarathon.org to register and also sign up for Team Ethan.  It is similar to last years process, however it is a little different this year.   T-Shirt will be available, design is being worked on at this time and the design and order forms will be posted here as soon as it is ready.  Let's get ready, and do our part to help find a cure for this beast called cancer in Ethan's honor and memory!!