Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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.

Monday, August 25, 2008

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

Sunday, August 24, 2008

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!!!

Monday, August 18, 2008

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

Saturday, August 16, 2008

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

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

...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. :-)

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.



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

Friday, August 15, 2008

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!!