UPDATE!! Hey everyone, thanks so much for your support! Great news! Our team, along with all the runners have raised $21,933.68, which is hugely, hugely fabulous! (See the email below from the Pittsburgh Promise.) The total goal the Promise is hoping to reach is $25,000, so if you haven't donated yet, you still have time!! You guys are the best. Thank you so much for your support!!

Sent:Friday, May 11, 2012 10:52 AM
To: julia@pittsburghpromise.org
Cc: Katina Lee; Marsha Kolbe
Subject: Thank you!

Dear Marathon Runners and Walkers,

By now, I’m hoping your body has recovered from the Pittsburgh Marathon and you’re still feeling a great level of satisfaction for running/walking as far as you did last Sunday.  I continue to be amazed by all of you who are dedicated marathoners—this is not easy work, but clearly, it’s fulfilling to so many of you in body, mind and soul.

Also fulfilling is knowing the incredible ways that your efforts have benefitted The Pittsburgh Promise.  As of today, our collective Promise/Marathon fundraising total is $21,933.68.  Thank you, thank you for working so hard to collect contributions from so many people in your support of our students.  If you have any cash or checks that need to be forwarded to The Promise, please do that very soon (1901 Centre Avenue, Suite 204, Pgh, PA 15219).  We’d love to see an even $25,000 result from the marathon and we’re only $3,066.32 away from that total.

We know that because of injury , illness or other factors not all of you were able to participate in the marathon as planned.  Despite that, we ask that you please continue to talk about The Pittsburgh Promise and the great ways our organization is helping to support our students, improve our schools, and build a better economic forecast for the entire Pittsburgh region.  In addition, if you happen to bump into anyone from the 15 PPS schools that were represented along the route, don’t forget to thank them for their cheering section and the extra motivation they provided to all runners.

Photos of you in action are on the marathon’s website: www.pittsburghmarathon.org.  We’ll gladly accept the personal photos you, your family or friends took along the racecourse too.

We look forward to seeing you at future Pittsburgh Promise events.  Thank you once again for being a Pittsburgh Promise runner/walker in the 2012 Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.

Sincerely,

Julia

UPDATE! Yay, we completed the marathon yesterday! How fun! It was a great day for the event, and it was wonderful to see the city filled with joy and happiness. :) You were part of this, and we thank you very, very much for all the support and good wishes. Most importantly, we thank you for supporting the Pittsburgh Promise and making a difference in the lives of our children. You are the BEST!! Don't forget it, either. Have a wonderful day! Look for us next year. Can't wait to do this again!

Kate, Angela, Ned, Jody, and Brian. :)!!

Hi. Four of my friends--Angela Abadilla, Ned Twyman, Jody Guy, Brian Corr--and I are running in the May 6, 2012, Pittsburgh Marathon to raise funds for the Pittsburgh Promise. The Promise is a last dollar scholarship fund that sends Pittsburgh Public Schools' students to college for free. It's pretty awesome. So are you. Let your awesomeness shine and join with us in spirit as we run. Our goal is to raise $1,000. Can you help us do this? Any donation will help. You can donate online here for free! Plus, you can share this with the other people you know and get them involved so together you can help us change the lives of kids in a good way! It doesn't get any better than this. Truth.

Our team's name is Shamrocks & Promises. Yay! More about us: Angela--super fabulous supervisor of arts programming in Pittsburgh Public Schools  (PPS), fantastic musician and mom with serious cred in all things fashionable and cool; Ned--language arts teacher in PPS and moonlighting rock journalist with great instincts and serious musical chops; Brian--science curriculum specialist of some note, Irishman and fab musician in his own Irish Rock Band--Red Hand Paddy; Jody--highly regarded visual arts coordinator, very promising whistler of some note (ha ha) and super sprinter (our edge); Kate--fundraiser, writer, yogini and long ago a musician also with an affinity for complication and the unusual, not to mention, though I will, peppermint. We all share the same inspiration--knowledge, truth, fun, and making the world a better place. Share the love!