A Message From Charlotte Run For Mercy 5K Chair - Nickie Haas!

Nickie Haas

My life has been wrecked. Passionately wrecked. Forever changed. Over three years ago I learned of Mercy Ministries and all God was doing to restore broken lives. This one thing I know - God's Word and His plan works. In every area of our lives, I have seen God display Himself as a restorer, a provider and a healer. When I began to hear the stories of God's mercy being demonstrated to these young lives, I knew immediately that God wanted me to serve Mercy in any way possible. I love knowing that God has a bigger story He is writing with the Mercy girls. He is really the only one who can take a life and make it better than the original. I am so honored and excited to serve Mercy in the Charlotte area. I know God has HUGE plans for this city to help the Mercy vision come to pass! Serving Mercy is a reminder to me that others are waiting on the other side of my obedience to serve and volunteer with Mercy. Lives are at stake. Restoration is ready to take place, and I'm so glad I get a front row seat to watch lives being made whole!

Up until last year, I had never directed or planned a 5K, so you can imagine my "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" brain activity, when I was asked to take on the challenge. God again provided so many amazing people on my journey to help make the day such a success! I must say - it was one of the best times of my life - that's why I signed up to do it again! To watch as others in the community began to grab hold of the Mercy vision, learn about Mercy and partner to help us bring the Mercy vision to Charlotte was just incredible! I'm telling you - my life will never be the same! Last year Charlotte hosted the first Run For Mercy Charlotte 5K & Family Walk! What a first time event! September 17, 2010 was a day that many had hands in planning and helping make happen! The site was perfect, we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and the crowds were astounded by what they heard from the Mercy graduate. With over 300 participants and 150 spectators to cheer on the runners - the team raised over $28,000.00 to go toward Mercy and also brought great awareness to the running community!

The team is gearing up and preparing now for the 2011 Run For Mercy Charlotte 5K & Family Walk! The team began meeting in January to secure a site, timing company and we already have our registration site actively building teams! This team has incredible servant leaders who are driven and they are out there sharing the Mercy story with everyone they come in contact with. We are excited to share that we outgrew our space! That is a great problem to have! This year join us at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, put on your running shoes and let's prepare the way to bring Mercy to this city. This year's event is going to be even better, and we can't wait to Run For Mercy with you in Charlotte! If you are interested in serving as a volunteer or helping to sponsor this year's event, please contact Nickie Haas at runformercycharlotte@gmail.com!

You can go online and register at www.runformercy.org/Char5K2011 Sign up today and begin building your teams! Get the word out and let's get ready to Run For Mercy together!

Believe The Promise, Share The Hope, Live The Joy!

Nickie Haas

Whitney Nall, Nickie Haas and Whitney Cantrell

Team Mercy Runs the Country Music Marathon!

Hello to our AMAZING Run for Mercy Team!

I hope that the past few days have found you recovering well from your half or full marathon. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and I was so glad to see some of your smiling faces at our team dinner on Friday and at the race on Saturday.

CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishment of completing the race! I hope that you all enjoyed yourself out on the course. I’ve loved hearing from some of you about your experience, and I encourage you to let me know how the race went for you if you haven’t already. I’d love to hear about it.

THANK YOU for all the hard work you did as you trained and fundraised to run this race for Mercy. Together we’ve raised $31,823!!! I wanted to let you know that you can still receive donations on your personal fundraising pages. I will pull the final list next Monday morning and contact you individually if you reached an incentive tier to earn a prize.

The race was featured this week as a web story on our news blog. I encourage you to check it out HERE!

We have also launched registration for the Nashville Run for Mercy 5K on October 22. You can register for the 5K at http://www.runformercy.org/nashville5K2011. We would love to have you join us at this fun and family friendly event!

Finally, we will begin working on plans for next year’s Run for Mercy team for the Country Music Half and Full Marathons soon. I hope you’ll consider running the race in 2012 for Mercy.

Thank you all so much for being such an amazing team. It has been such a blessing in my life to lead you, get to know you and see you all complete a distance race in the name of raising money for Mercy Ministries.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions about running for Mercy or getting involved with us in other ways.

Thanks!

Three More Days of Training!

Hello all -

***We just relaunched our Run for Mercy website on Friday (it is going to be even better than before!), and we are aware that there are a few glitches. We are working quickly to correct them. When someone goes to the page for the Country Music Marathon/RFM, they can find YOUR personal fundraising page by clicking next to “Want to Donate” in the middle and then searching for you by first and last name. We are aware that if you are using Internet Explorer, the pages will not load, so you’ll need to use Safari, Firefox, etc. until we have this corrected. Also – I know that some people have made donations that have not shown on your personal page. If you know of anyone that has given, but it is not showing on your page, please let me know! I can get it corrected on my end. Please double check your pages to see if there are any donations missing.

We’ve raised a little over $25,000 so far. Let’s keep working hard this week to reach our goal of $40,000!!!!!

TEAM DINNER

We will have our team dinner here at the Nashville home on Friday, April 29th at 6pm. If you need the address for the home, please let me know.

We’ll have a healthy pre-race meal for you (and your guests) and will celebrate our training and fundraising together. If you’d like to earn a prize, you’ll need to have any money you’ve raised turned in to us that night or before. We’ll take a team photo, announce top fundraisers and prize earners, and will wrap up early enough that everyone can head home to get some sleep for the big day. (Please note: since you have until Friday night to turn in money to earn a prize, we won’t be able to determine if you’ve won one until then… you will receive the actual prize at a later date.) We will also talk at the dinner on Friday about what to expect on Saturday morning.

SHIRTS

Our shirts are here! If you joined the team and provided me with a shirt size by March 1, I have a shirt for you. Once you have raised the $100 fundraising requirement, you may have your shirt. Feel free to come by the office to pick it up (I suggest giving me a call/email before you come). Otherwise, I will have the shirts at the team dinner on April 29th. I also have a few generic Run for Mercy shirts for anyone who may not have given me a shirt size for the lululemon shirts. If you won’t be able to come to the dinner or pick up your shirt at our office this week, please let me know and we’ll make arrangements.

TRAINING and FUNDRAISING

You shouldn’t run too much this week. Follow your training plan and log just a few short, easy miles. REST. Drink lots of water. AND GET EXCITED!!!

Please keep asking everyone you know to make a donation in this final week! If you have any cash or checks that you’ve collected, you may bring those with you to the dinner. Of course, you can continue to send in money after Friday, but only money turned in by Friday can make you eligible for a prize.

If you have any questions about anything this week, do not hesitate to be in touch with me. You can call me at 615-831-6987 or email me at mblair@mercyministries.com.

Finally – we will have a tent at the finish line in the Charity Village. Please stop by after you finish the race so that we can see one another and take photos with our medals.

See you all soon!

10 More Days Until the Country Music Marathon!

Hello team,

As of today, we’ve raised $21,266.00! We are definitely picking up steam toward our goal of $40,000 – let’s all work together over these last two weeks before the race to raise even more funds to aid the girls that we serve here at Mercy!

TEAM DINNER RSVP NEEDED THIS WEEK

We will have our team dinner here at the Nashville home on Friday, April 29th at 6pm. Please RSVP by April 20th as to whether or not you will attend the dinner and if you’ll bring any guests, so that we can begin making preparations for the food. Thanks!

We’ll have a healthy pre-race meal for you (and your guests) and will celebrate our training and fundraising together. If you’d like to earn a prize, you’ll need to have any money you’ve raised turned in to us that night or before. Don’t forget – you do need to raise the minimum of $100 before that night to be eligible to attend or receive your shirt. We’ll take a team photo, announce top fundraisers and prize earners, and we will wrap up early enough that everyone can head home to get some sleep for the big day.

SHIRTS

Our shirts are here! If you joined the team and provided me with a shirt size by March 1, I have a shirt for you. Once you have raised the $100 fundraising requirement, you may have your shirt. Feel free to come by the office to pick it up (I suggest giving me a call/email before you come) if you’d like to start training in it. Otherwise, I will have the shirts at the team dinner on April 29th. I also have a few generic Run for Mercy shirts for anyone who may not have given me a shirt size to order you one of the lululemon shirts.

TRAINING/RACE DAY

You should have done your last long run/walk, and are now starting to taper for race day. If you start to feel like you’re not doing enough, DON’T WORRY! You are absolutely supposed to do less in the last two weeks in order to allow your body to recover from your training and rest up for race day. You are well-trained and ready for the race, but it’s important to show up at the start line feeling fresh. Try to get as much sleep as possible in these last two weeks; it’s likely you won’t sleep well the night before the race due to anticipation, but as long as you’re resting enough in these final weeks you’ll be fine.

I hope you’re all getting excited about participating in one of the largest distance road races in the country. We’re going to have a fantastic time out there on the course.

If you have any specific questions about race day, please don’t hesitate to email me at mblair@mercyministries.com. We will also go over some race day info at the team dinner!

Keep asking everyone you know to consider making a donation in these final weeks as your get ready to RUN FOR MERCY!

Race Day Less Than Three Weeks Away!

Hello team -

Get excited! Race day is less than 3 weeks away! As of today, we’ve raised $16,916.00! This is totally awesome, and I know that if we all keep it up we’ll be able to raise thousands more over these last few weeks.

SHIRTS

Our shirts are here! If you joined the team and provided me with a shirt size before March 1, I have a shirt for you. Once you have raised the $100 fundraising requirement, you may have your shirt. Feel free to come by the office to pick it up (I suggest giving me a call/email before you come) if you’d like to start training in it. Otherwise, I will have the shirts at the team dinner on April 29. I also have a few generic Run for Mercy shirts available.

TEAM DINNER RSVP NEEDED BY APRIL 20th

We will have our team dinner here at the Nashville home on Friday, April 29th at 6pm. Please RSVP by April 20th as to whether or not you will attend the dinner and if you’ll bring any guests, so that we can begin making preparations for the food.

We’ll have a healthy pre-race meal for you (and your guests) and will celebrate our training and fundraising together. If you’d like to earn a prize, you’ll need to have any money you’ve raised turned into us that night or before. Don’t forget – you do need to raise the minimum of $100 before that night to be eligible to attend or receive your shirt. We’ll take a team photo, announce top fundraisers and prize earners and will wrap up early enough that everyone can head home to get some sleep for the big day.

EXPO/RACE DAY TIPS

Start making plans for the race expo and race day now. If you are local, I recommend visiting the expo on Thursday to avoid the crowds of people from out of town who will visit on Friday. You’ll need a photo ID and your signed confirmation sheet (they haven’t sent these out yet, but you should receive it by email) to pick up your race number and timing device. They’ll also provide you with a packet of more information than you could possibly need, most of which is already on the website at www.cmmarathon.com. Their website is definitely a great resource to help you make your plans for parking, getting to the start line, etc.

Allow yourself a little time to enjoy the expo. There will be tons of booths with free samples, drawings for awesome prizes, and cool gear that you can consider purchasing (many offer great expo discounts!). It’s really fun to wander around and check everything out – go with a friend if you can to make it even more fun!

On race day morning, make sure you allow yourself ample time to deal with traffic and the crowds. I usually bribe a friend with Starbucks to drop me off at the start and pick me up at the finish so that I don’t have to drive and park. If you do need to drive, the best idea is to go EARLY, park at LP Field, and ride the free shuttles to the start line.

There will be over 35,000 people running in this event. It’s going to be a total blast, but definitely prepare yourself to be in a crowd as you get into your corral at the start line.

If you have any specific questions about race day, please don’t hesitate to let me know. We will also go over some race day info at the team dinner!

Keep asking everyone you know to consider making a donation in these final weeks as you get ready to RUN FOR MERCY!

26 More Days Until The Country Music Marathon!

Hello team!

I hope that you are all doing well and getting excited that the race is only 26 days away! As of today, we’ve raised $11,671 toward our team goal of $40,000. Let’s all do what we can over these last few weeks to see if we can reach our goal!

RSVP for the TEAM DINNER

We will have our team dinner here at the Nashville home on Friday, April 29th at 6pm. We’ll have a healthy pre-race meal for you (and your guests) and will celebrate our training and fundraising together. If you’d like to earn a prize, you’ll need to have any money you’ve raised turned into us that night or sooner. Don’t forget – you do need to raise the minimum of $100 before that night to be eligible to attend or receive your shirt. We’ll take a team photo, announce top fundraisers and prize earners, and will wrap up soon enough that everyone can head home to get some sleep for the big day.

Please RSVP by April 20th as to whether or not you will attend the dinner as well as if you’ll bring any guests so that we can begin making preparations for the food. Thanks!

TRAINING/RACE DAY PREPARATIONS

It’s likely that you’re all start to feeling a little tired and worn out from the training. Don’t worry – this is normal!  You should all be doing your last long run over the next week or two, and then you’ll cut back on the mileage for the remainder of the 2-3 weeks leading up to the race. This will allow your body time to recover while still staying fit so that you’re rested and ready to toe the start line on April 30.

Start paying attention to the race website – www.cmmarathon.com – for pertinent information about the race expo and race day. You will have to attend the race expo to pick up your number, goody bag, shirt, timing chip, etc. As you begin to think about race day, please feel free to let me know if you have any questions about how to prepare. This will be my fifth time to run the Country Music, so I’m happy to help give advice on anything from what to look for at the expo to where to park race day morning.

FUNDRAISING

I’ve often found that fundraising is sometimes easier in the last few weeks leading up to the event. It’s easier to get excited about the event because it’s only a few weeks away. Your excitement about running for Mercy can be contagious! Be sure to let everyone you come in contact with know that you’re training and fundraising. Don’t be afraid to ask people to consider making a donation. It doesn’t matter if it’s $5 or $500 or $5,000 – every dollar helps to change the lives of the young ladies we serve at Mercy.

Please let me know if you have any questions or if I can further assist you in any way! My email is mblair@mercyministries.com.  Keep up the good work with both your training and fundraising. April 30th is going to be such an exciting day for us all!

RSVP for the Team Dinner!

Hello team!

Get excited! Race day is only a month and 2 days away! As of today, we’ve raised $7,200 toward our goal of $40,000 – and some of you have raised over $1,000 and reached the first tier of incentives. Let’s keep it up, folks!

SAVE THE DATE/RSVP
We will have our team dinner here at the Nashville home on Friday, April 29th at 6pm. We’ll have a healthy pre-race meal for you (and your guests) and will celebrate our training and fundraising together. If you’d like to earn a prize, you’ll need to have any money you’ve raised turned into us that night or sooner. Don’t forget – you do need to raise the minimum of $100 before that night to be eligible to attend or receive your shirt.

Please RSVP as soon as possible, and let me know if you’ll be bringing any guests so we can begin making preparations for the food. Thanks!

We’ll take a team photo, announce top fundraisers and wrap things up early enough that everyone can head home to get some sleep for the big day.

SHIRTS
These have gone to the printer! As soon as I have them in the office, I will let you know. Once you’ve raised you $100, you can come pick it up, or I will have them for you at the team dinner.

FUNDRAISING AND TRAINING
If you have any questions or need any assistance with either your fundraising or your training, please let me know. I am definitely here to assist you in any way possible. All of us on staff at Mercy are SO appreciate of your efforts as you Run for Mercy in this event!

If you’re looking for any opportunities for a group run this week, you can join East Nasty on Wednesday at 6:10 (eastnastyforlife.com) or the Nashville Striders on Sunday morning (www.nashvillestriders.com). Both runs can be altered to any distance.

Have a great week!

Note From the Coach - Sponsorship Forms

Hello team, I hope you are all doing well!

I am linking you to a form we recently created that can aid you in your fundraising. You can print these forms out and fill in with your information to pass out or send to your contacts to ask for donations. I hope that this will help you as you continue to work toward helping us raise $40,000 for Mercy. As of today, we have raised $5,936 together. Let’s keep it up and reach our goal!

Our current top fundraisers – Trish Squittieri and Teresa Epps – have both said that they have been able to increase their fundraising simply by letting all of their contacts know they are running for Mercy and asking them to make a donation.

Please let me know if I can do anything to assist you in raising money as you train for the race. Ask your favorite barista at your local coffee shop if you can set up a day where you receive 10% of their profits for your fundraising. See if any local restaurants will allow you to set up a table one night in their front entrance area to share about Mercy and ask for donations. Don’t be afraid to get creative! If you need any resources to help you, just let me know!

I hope that you are all still progressing in your training and finding that you are feeling more confident for race day. If you’re feeling a little worn out right now, don’t worry – that’s normal! You’re training your body to do something challenging, and you’ll taper off your training a bit the last few weeks of April before the race in order to rest up for race day. If you have any questions about the training plans or about preparing for race day, send them my way. I want to do all I can to make sure you show up to the start line prepared.

I am so blessed to have this opportunity to train and fundraise with all of you! Let’s keep up the momentum as we all get ready for the big day on April 30. I know that the Nashville residents are already getting excited about coming out to the race to cheer us all on as we Run for Mercy!

Marathoner Shares Her Experience of Running for Mercy

My name is Elizabeth Baldwin, and I ran for Mercy in the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, TX on February 27th! I decided to participate in Run for Mercy because of my cousin Tara, a graduate of the program. I was so amazed at her transformation while at Mercy Ministries and was impressed that it was Christ-centered. Ever since Tara graduated, running for Mercy Ministries had always been in the back of my mind as something I might do one of these days. I struggled though a personal loss in December and felt very confused about what God’s plan was for my life. That was when the Lord put a giant neon sign in front of my face that said “RUN FOR MERCY!” I tried to ignore it and came up with pretty much every excuse in the book. Finally, I decided to listen to God, signed up for my first marathon and got started on my fundraising.

The Run for Mercy website was a huge help in raising funds. I sent out an initial email via the fundraising website telling everyone about what I was doing and why. Then, every two weeks I sent out “training updates” to keep people informed about what I was doing to physically prepare for the race. As the race approached, I began emailing every week and thanking people for their support and encouragement. I think these emails helped my friends and family feel more connected to me as I was training. I also used Facebook to bring awareness to my run. My friends and family posted my fundraising website to their Facebook profiles as well. This was a great idea because it introduced Run for Mercy to people I did not know personally. I was so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family that supported my run, and I was able to raise $1,100 for Mercy Ministries!

Race day finally came, and I was so nervous and excited all at once! The Cowtown Marathon draws about 20,000 runners for six different races every year. This year about 1,500 of us participated in the full marathon. As the start of the race approached, I prayed and prayed and prayed, “Oh dear Lord, please say I finish. Even if I have to crawl across the finish line, just help me finish!” Finally, the horn blared and I was off running!

My Aunt Susan had given me some of Nancy Alcorn’s teachings, which I uploaded to my iPod, and listened to during most of the race. I was able to draw so much strength and encouragement from listening to her speak. The course was beautiful, and my family was at every spectator spot cheering me on! I felt really great during most of the race, even at mile 20 when everyone says the race gets hard. I hit the dreaded “wall” at mile 22 and felt like my energy instantly drained from my body. I kept thinking about Tara and all of the young women who are at Mercy Ministries. They are what got me through those last few miles. Seeing the mile 25 marker gave me a much needed boost to finish the race.

I have always been an emotional person, so at mile 25 I turned into a bawling mess. I was so thankful to be almost done and humbled knowing that running 26.2 miles was the least I could do to help raise awareness for Mercy Ministries. Crossing the finish line was such an amazing feeling, and I am so privileged that I was able to Run for Mercy! Finally, I could not have completed this race with out my faith in God. I truly cannot take any credit; I put my trust in Him, and He is the one who got me across the finish line!

Seven Weeks of Training Left Until the Country Music Marathon!

Hello team!

Can you believe that race day is a little less than 7 weeks away?!

As of today, we’ve raised $4,600 toward our goal of $40,000. It’s so exciting to see new donations come in each day – let’s all keep it up! If you have any questions or need ideas about fundraising, please let me know.

Please pass on any praise reports about your fundraising – we’d love to feature them on the Run for Mercy blog!

I wanted to give a little shout out to our top 3 fundraisers so far: Teresa Epps, Tina Brown and Sandy Haynie! Some of you are getting really close to $1,000 raised and earning a gift card!

RUNNING THIS WEEK
You should find your runs/walks getting pretty long by now. Keep in mind that it’s ok if you’re having some aches and pains or feeling tired and drained. You’re in the thick of training, and that’s totally normal. You’ll taper your runs/walks down a bit closer to rest day, and this will allow your body time to recover so that you feel fresh when you reach the start line.

Fellow team member Trish Squittieri and I will be running together Saturday morning. Should you be interested in joining us, please email me and let me know. We will run about 16 miles at a 10:30 pace. You can join us for some or all of it if you would like. We will determine a location later this week.

TEAM DINNER
We will have the team pre-race dinner here at the Nashville Mercy home on Friday night, April 29th. I will send out more specific details soon, but I just wanted to remind you that you must meet the $100 fundraising minimum to receive the invitation to the dinner. Keep up the hard work with fundraising!

SHIRTS
They have been ordered! When you reach the $100 fundraising minimum, you will be able to pick yours up here at the office so that you can train in it. I’ll let you know when they arrive. They are going to be AWESOME.

If you did not submit a shirt size to me, I was not able to order you a shirt. However, we do have some other Run for Mercy shirts that you can have if you would like one.

I hope you all have a great week! Please let me know if you have any questions about any aspect of preparing for the race!

-Melanie Blair, Team Mercy Coach

The Coach on Fundraising

Hello team!

This week’s update is all about helping you promote the event and fundraise!

If you are using social media to help promote your fundraising, keep these in mind:
• Send people to the Run for Mercy blog right here at http://runformercy.blogspot.com
• Become a fan of our team in the Country Music Races on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Run-for-Mercy-in-the-Country-Music-Half-and-Full-Marathon/169311093108015?ref=ts
• Follow Run for Mercy on Twitter: @runformercymin (http://twitter.com/@runformercymin)
• Don’t forget to share the link to your personal fundraising page on http://www.runformercy.org/cmmarathon2011

Curious as to how your fellow team members are fundraising?
• Trish Squittieri is sharing her race prayer plan (that I shared with you in a previous post) to spread the word about running for Mercy and inform others of how to donate
• Another team member has been telling everyone she asks to donate that she will match every dollar that is donated on her personal fundraising page
• Another team member has sent emails and letters to all of her contacts with information about Mercy and about her training for the race along with the link to donate to her personal fundraising page

Please note: If someone really prefers to write a check, they can make it out to Mercy Ministries and give it to you. You’ll just need to get it to me and make sure I know that it’s for your fundraising.

I hope that everyone is having a great time hitting the pavement both in training and in fundraising. We’ve raised about $4,000 so far toward our goal of $40,000. Let’s keep the momentum going!

I have also placed the order for our shirts. Once we have them from the printer, I will start getting them to you as you reach your $100 fundraising requirement.

Please be in touch any time if you have any questions or need anything. Have a great week!

Trish Squittieri On Why She Decided To Run For Mercy!

My name is Patricia Squittieri and I live in Nashville, TN. I began working at Mercy Ministries in June of 2009 as a Residential Assistant on the weekends. Working a 64 hour shift in the home meant that I wore many hats. Walking alongside girls who face life-controlling issues and seeing them receive freedom has changed my life forever. There truly is nothing too big for God to handle!

I now work on the front end of the application process in the Intake Department. This is where potential residents walk through the application process and begin to fix their eyes on a new way of living! I am so inspired by where I work, I have decided to do something radical to raise support for Mercy. Radical for me anyway! I am running the Nashville Country Music Marathon this year for the first time!

Running on behalf of Mercy Ministries is an honor and something I do not take lightly. I have felt lead to dedicate, through prayer, each mile to a different aspect of Mercy. You can see my prayer plan below.  It will not be easy, but I am reminded that God never promised an easy road! He truly will be my strength each stride as I commit my way to Him. Please come alongside me and financially support this mission!  You can make your donation by going to www.runformercy.org/goto/trish.  Click here for more information a promotional flyer.



Marathon Prayer Plan
Mile 1 - Girls in the home
Mile 2 - Families of residents
Mile 3 - Girls on waiting list
Mile 4 - Families of girls on waiting list
Mile 5 - Monroe, LA
Mile 6 - Nashville, TN
Mile 7 - St Louis, MO
Mile 8 - Lincoln, CA
Mile 9 - Future Homes
Mile 10 - Volunteers
Mile 11 - Donors
Mile 12 - Events
Mile 13 - Programs/Counseling Staff
Mile 14 - Intake Staff
Mile 15 - Accounting/Treasury Staff
Mile 16 - Development/Communications Staff
Mile 17 - Transitional Care Staff
Mile 18 - Human Resources Staff
Mile 19 - Home Staff
Mile 20 - Weekend/Night Staff
Mile 21 - International Homes
Mile 22 - Board Members
Mile 23 - Executive Leadership
Mile 24 - End Sex Trafficking Campaign
Mile 25 - Nancy Alcorn
Mile 26 - Nancy Alcorn

Shirt Orders, Fundraising and Hydration

To those of you running the Country Music Marathon...Hello team!

We currently have 53 members on our team. This is AWESOME! However, only 17 of you have provided me with your shirt size. I’ll be ordering our shirts from lululemon soon, so I need to know your size if you’d like to have one. The new logo for this year’s shirt is SO COOL, and you won’t want to be left out! Ladies – your shirts will be either 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12. Men - your shirts will be either S, M, L, or XL.

Please visit lululemon or go to their website www.lululemon.com to determine your size and email me with it this week! You only have to raise $100 to receive the shirt and an invitation to our team dinner on April 29. I know everyone can do this! I’d hate for anyone on the team to not have the shirt and we want to see you at our team dinner the Friday night before the race. It’s ok if you haven’t raised the money yet – I can go ahead and order your shirt, and give it to you once you have raised $100.

Other notes for the week:
• I will be at the Nashville Striders training run this Saturday, March 5th at 7:00am. This run meets at the Titans Stadium, and you’ll be able to run any distance you need. Please let me know if you’d like to attend.
• It’s important to make sure you are staying hydrated and fueled during your long runs. Be sure to have enough water/sports drink on you, and experiment with fuel such as GU, sport beans, Shot Blocks, etc. Places like Fleet Feet and REI sell numerous types of fuel to carry on the run. If you have any questions about this, let me know. You don’t want to try anything new on race day, so be sure to determine between now and then what works best for you. (Personally, I like sport beans and GU Chomps.)
• Insider tip – The Country Music Marathon provides water and Cytomax on the course. Cytomax is not for everyone – I myself can’t stomach it. Either buy some of it to practice with in training (at running stores like Fleet Feet), or plan to carry your own sports drink on race day. I personally will just stick to drinking water during training and on race day.
• Continue doing all you can to fundraise! If we at Mercy can assist you in any way with providing direction on ways to do this, please don’t hesitate to ask. If everyone raises $1000, we’ll have $53,000! Our goal is $40,000, so let’s all do our part!
• Half Marathon Pace Team – I plan to run the half marathon in exactly 2:15 on race day. If anyone has 2:15 as your goal time, let me know and we can run together on race day!

Happy training!

If you have questions for Mercy coach, Melanie Blair, you can contact her at mblair@mercyministries.com.

A Prayer Plan For Team Mercy!

Hello everyone!  Melanie Blair here.

I have something really exciting that I’d like to share with you this week! One of our fellow team members (and Mercy staff member) Trish Squittieri is running the full marathon and has come up with a prayer plan so that she can spend each mile of the race praying for Mercy. We have edited the plan to cater it for the half marathon as well, and I wanted to share both plans with you. Please see the specific information at the end of the email. I really want to encourage everyone to consider using this plan on race day to spend a few moments praying for specific areas of Mercy Ministries as you run the race for Mercy!

TEAM DINNER
I’d love to have the opportunity to meet some of you. If you have any interest in planning a team dinner during the month of March, please reply back and let me know what nights work best for you. This will be optional and just for fun. I will likely hold it in the Brentwood area on a week night around 5:30pm, but I’d love some insight on whether or not anyone is even interested before I plan it. Thanks!

SHIRTS
Don’t forget! If you plan to raise the minimum $100 required to earn the lululemon shirt and team dinner invitation, I need to know what shirt size to order for you. These shirts run in numerical sizes for women instead of S, M, L, XL, and they tend to run small and fitted. While the men’s are S, M, L, XL, I’d still like for you to confirm your size with me.

Men – you need to try on/look at the Metal Vent Tech.
Women – you need to try on/look at the Run Swiftly Tech.

I need you to email me with your size that you’d like me to order for you no later than March 1. It’s ok if you haven’t raised the $100 by that date; I will take your word that you will raise it by April 30th and order you a shirt. J

TRAINING/FUNDRAISING
Keep following your training plans and enjoy this awesome weather. If you ever have any questions about your training, please do not hesitate to contact me. I’m training for the half marathon myself and will be happy to do anything I can to help you get ready for race day! Don’t forget – if you haven’t already registered for the race, you need to do so at cmmarathon.com. The entry fee goes up soon!

Don’t be afraid to get creative with your fundraising. Many local businesses will allow you to hold evenings where you can earn a portion of their proceeds. Use your social media to promote your personal fundraising page. Let everyone know that not only are you running in one of the largest distance events in the country, but you’re doing it for a great cause and ask them to support you! We have some fantastic prizes that you can earn, and I’d love to see every single one of you raise enough to earn one of them. Please don’t be afraid to let me know if you need additional ideas for fundraising.

Please review the prayer plan below and consider making this part of your race day strategy. We are running together on April 30 to touch the lives of the young women at Mercy!

Marathon Prayer Plan
Mile 1 - Girls in the home
Mile 2 - Families of residents
Mile 3 - Girls on waiting list
Mile 4 - Families of girls on waiting list
Mile 5 - Monroe, LA
Mile 6 - Nashville, TN
Mile 7 - St Louis, MO
Mile 8 - Lincoln, CA
Mile 9 - Future Homes
Mile 10 - Volunteers
Mile 11 - Donors
Mile 12 - Events
Mile 13 - Programs/Counseling Staff
Mile 14 - Intake Staff
Mile 15 - Accounting/Treasury Staff
Mile 16 - Development Staff
Mile 17 - Marketing Staff
Mile 18 - Transitional Care Staff
Mile 19 - Human Resources Staff
Mile 20 - Home Staff
Mile 21 - Weekend/Night Staff
Mile 22 - Board Members
Mile 23 - Executive Leadership
Mile 24 - Freedom4One Campaign
Mile 25 - Nancy Alcorn
Mile 26 - Nancy Alcorn

Half Marathon Prayer Plan
Mile 1 - Girls in the homes and their families
Mile 2 - Girls on the waiting list and their families
Mile 3 - Future Homes
Mile 4 - Donors
Mile 5 - Events
Mile 6 - Volunteers
Mile 7 - Programs/Counseling Staff
Mile 8 - Corporate Office Staff
Mile 9 - Executive Leadership
Mile 10 - Board Members
Mile 11 - Freedom4One Campaign
Mile 12 - Nancy Alcorn
Mile 13 - Nancy Alcorn

A Word on Fundraising from Community Relations Manager Whitney Nall

Hey team!! I am SO excited about everyone who has signed up to RUN FOR MERCY in the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon in April! This is always SUCH a fun event and a great way to spread the word about Mercy to your friends & family. It takes a special person to want to walk OR run in a marathon OR half marathon – so I know just by seeing your name on the list that you must be disciplined!! I also have a feeling that each one of you is passionate about the work of Mercy Ministries.

I can’t tell you enough how valuable you are to our ministry! It’s through people like you that MORE people hear about Mercy and choose to give – even one dollar makes a difference. As you probably know, the residents at Mercy Ministries come completely free-of-charge, but the cost of caring for one girl at Mercy is $175 per day. We decided at the beginning of this year to make it our goal to raise $40,000 with the marathon. This would cover the entire cost of one girl at Mercy for a little over the average 6 month stay. It’s going to take a TEAM effort to reach this goal – but just remember that every single dollar raised is a blessing. We currently have 51 people on our team. That would average out to each person raising around $800. Now of course we will have some people raise more and some people raise less, but this gives you a ballpark figure to work with. If you need ideas on how to go about fundraising (sending letters to your contacts, social media, etc), please feel free to contact your awesome coach, Melanie Blair. We have put together some resources to make this an enjoyable time for all!! Blessings to you as you prepare for this race!

If you’re interested in coming by the Nashville Mercy Home to take a tour and see the work being done firsthand to really understand what you’re running for, feel free to email me at Nashville@mercyministries.com and we’ll get that set up! Thanks again for ALL you do to help these hurting young girls come to Mercy!

How To Make a RUN FOR MERCY Personal URL

To increase personal fundraising, it’s very important to direct your friends and family to your personal fundraising page on the Run for Mercy site. Below are steps to help you create a personal URL so that everyone will be directed right to your personal page with one click of the mouse!

To Make a Personal URL:
• Go to your Run for Mercy event site.
• Click on “Visit Your Participant Center”
• Enter user name and password
• You will be directed to your Participant Center. At the top, you will see the Mercy pink header that reads “Run for Mercy” – under that, there are tabs, under the tabs, you will see icons and under the icons, you will see a gold bar across the page.
• Just under the gold bar, on the right side of the page, find the “Update Goal” box. Just below that box click on the words “Update personal URLs”.
• There are simple instructions for creating a personal URL – using your name or your team name would be the simplest option.
• Once you have created the URL – click SAVE.
• Next to the words “Current URL” is a link that you can copy and paste wherever you need it.

There are many ways to use a personal URL – place it under your signature on your e-mails, put it on your blog or use it on Twitter and Facebook. Below are instructions on how to place your URL in a prominent place on your Facebook page.

How to Use Your Personal URL on Facebook
• Go to your Profile page
• Usually found under the profile picture is a box entitled “Information” and you can control the categories you list in this box.
• To add a URL to this box, click the “Info” tab at the top of your profile page.
• Scroll down the page until you come to the “Contact Information” section.
• Click “Edit” over on the right side of the section
• Under website, simply cut and paste your personal URL.
• Click “Save Changes”
• Now your URL should be showing on your profile page!
• You can list several sites like your blog address, www.runformercy.org, and your personal URL. The most I have seen listed is 3, but there might be room for more.
• Use your STATUS updates to direct your friends to this link and get the word out!

A Note From The Coach

Hello team!

I have a few important pieces of info for you this week:

SHIRTS
If you plan to raise the minimum $100 required to earn the lululemon shirt and team dinner, I need to know what shirt size to order for you no later than March 1st. These shirts come in numerical sizes instead of S, M, L, XL, and they tend to run small and fitted - especially for the women. I recommend either visiting the lululemon athletica store (we have one in Nashville at The Hill Center in Green Hills) or their website www.lululemon.com and clicking on “Sizes and Fitting” to be sure of what size you need.

Men – you need to try on/look at the Metal Vent Tech.
Women – you need to try on/look at the Run Swiftly Tech.

The shirts are short-sleeved and will have the Run for Mercy logo on the front. I plan to have them in time for you to get a few workouts in with them before race day.

GROUP RUNS
I’ll be attending the East Nasty group run this Wednesday if you’d like to join me. The group meets at 6pm at the corner of 11th and Holly. The run this week is a little over 4 miles long, but you can cut it short if you need to by looking at the map and planning accordingly (Route #5 on www.eastnastyforlife.com).

I’ll also be attending the Nashville Striders Bongo-to-Bongo run this Saturday at 7am. This run will start at the Bongo Java located at 11th and Woodland in East Nashville. The Striders will be running 14-miles, but you can easily cut it short – it will be an out and back run to the Bongo Java on Belmont, so you’d simply turn around sooner to head back. (In the past, Bongo Java has put out coffee and bagels for us after the run.) Fluids will be provided along the course of the run by the Nashville Striders.

If you need to know what I look like in order to find me at the group runs, check out the “Meet the Coach” post below.

NUTRITION
Mercy supporter Dr. Josh Axe just published a FREE e-book called The Health Virus. I encourage you to look over it as it has some great information that will be helpful as you prepare for the event. You can find it at www.drjoshaxe.com and download it for free.

AND FINALLY…
If you’d like to help spread the word about joining the team, you can print the publicity flyer at www.runformercy.org/cmmarathon2011. We are still hoping to recruit some more team members in the next couple of weeks. We’ve already seen donations come in on your personal fundraising pages, and I encourage you to keep up the good work. Together we can reach the goal of raising $40,000 to help serve the young women who come to Mercy!

Please let me know if you have any questions at any time.

Thanks, and I hope to see some of you at the group runs Wednesday and/or Saturday!

Meet The Coach for Team Run for Mercy, Melanie Blair!

Coach Melanie Blair

For the fifth year in a row, Mercy Ministries will have a team running in the Country Music Half and Full Marathon on April 30 in Nashville, TN! This year’s team is led by Mercy staff member Melanie Blair. Melanie first started running in high school where she competed on both the cross country and track teams. She knew early on that she preferred distance events to sprint events and made it a personal goal to someday run a marathon.

One week before her college graduation in 2005, Melanie completed the Country Music Marathon in just over five hours. She thought that once she reached her goal she would move on to other things, but Melanie found that she loved the training, the race day atmosphere and being a part of the whole running community.

At The Goofy Challenge

Over the past six years, Melanie has gone on to complete 10 marathons and 15 half marathons! In January, she ran both the Disney World half and full marathons to complete The Goofy Challenge – 39.3 miles of running over two days. This was also her third marathon in three months, an accomplishment that qualified her for the national Marathon Maniacs club! Melanie’s current personal records include 1:52:16 for the half marathon and 4:11:22 for the full marathon. She intends to break 1:50 in the half and 4:00 in the marathon later this year.

Melanie at Nashville's Run For Mercy 5K

Melanie’s current goal is to get Team Run for Mercy to the finish line of the Country Music Half or Full Marathon and she is here to serve YOU! Melanie can help you determine which training plan to follow, adjust it to fit your specific needs, answer questions and guide you to excellent resources regarding clothing, shoes and nutrition. She can also guide you in your fundraising efforts as you raise money to support the work of Mercy Ministries. You can reach Melanie at 615-831-6987 or mblair@mercyministries.com. Melanie will also be available for encouragement and advice at all scheduled group training runs. Whether you’re a beginning runner/walker or a veteran of distance events, Melanie will do all she can to get you to the finish line of both the race and your personal fundraising goals.

Over 35,000 people participate in the Country Music Half and Full Marathon each year. It’s an exciting event, and you won’t be disappointed. Join Team Run for Mercy to run and/or walk the race to raise money for the hurting young girls we serve at Mercy Ministries. For more information about training plans, group runs or joining Team Run for Mercy, please visit the team website at www.runformercy.com/cmmarathon2011.

Time to Start Training and Fundraising!

Hello everyone!

Many of you are training for the upcoming Music City Half and Full Marathon. If you’re training for the half and you’re following one of the training plans posted on www.runformercy.com/cmmarathon2011 , you’ll start the plan the week of February 7. However, you should be getting yourself out and moving (whether walking or running) for at least 30 minutes three times a week so that you’ll be ready. I know it’s cold, but you can still run outside. Just remember that you warm up about 20 degrees when you get moving, so the key is to make sure you don’t over OR under dress.

It’s not too early to get started on fundraising! Send emails/letters to everyone you know to let them know you’re running the race and fundraising for Mercy. Give them the link to your personal fundraising page, post the link on your Facebook and/or Twitter and share your link as your away status on your gmail gchat. Also, please let anyone who may be interested in running with us know we’d love to have them join our team. It is our goal to get 50 more people on the team in addition to the 50 we have!

If you’d like to run with Mercy Coach Melanie Blair this week, she will be attending the East Nasty group run in East Nashville this Wednesday. The group meets at 6pm at the corner of 11th and Holly. The run this week is a little over 4 miles long, but you can cut it short if needed by looking at the map and planning accordingly (Route #4 on www.eastnastyforlife.com ). Melanie will be running 10-12 miles on Saturday morning, so email her at mblair@mercyministries.com if you’re already up to that distance and you’d like to join her.

Finally, Fleet Feet Sports in Brentwood (an excellent place to purchase running shoes, clothes, fuel, etc.) is offering a Winter Speed Sessions clinic. It starts February 5th and lasts for 10 Tuesdays. This is an excellent way to get in one of your weekly training runs. There is always a large group (consisting of both beginners and veterans), a coach who leads the workouts and gives feedback and a tech shirt is included in the clinic. It’s only $50 for the 10-session clinic! Feel free to check it out at https://www.signmeup.com/site/reg/register.aspx?fid=N32VWJ7.

Be on the lookout for a dinner sometime soon where the team can get together and meet outside of the running spectrum.

Happy training and fundraising this week! Let us know if we can assist you in any way!

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

Dr. Axe's Advice On Marathon Training

Wellness physician, popular radio show host and coveted speaker, Dr. Josh Axe has a vision to see people empowered with practical advice about God’s biblical principles for healthy living. He has donated hours of service and expertise to Mercy Ministries residents and staff in addition to being a generous financial supporter. Here are his recommendations for healthy eating while training for a marathon:

1) Stay away from - breads, pastas, fruit juice, soy products, cereal and pasteurized dairy.

2) Eat lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts, organic meats, salmon, and eggs. Also, before exercise just have fruit with protein powder and after have a berry smoothie. You can find the recipe here.

3) The best supplements for joints are Wobenzym (4 tabs 2x daily empty stomach) and Fish Oil (1000mg daily). The best supplement for performance is Berry Greens (1 scoop daily)