All that and a group of Buddies!!!

Not to speak for Tom, cause I am sure he has a million and one thoughts himself, but I think it is safe to say, we are so absolutely thrilled. 

During the event, as we watched everyone participating, me fighting back tears of joy, and Tom smiling bigger than i've ever seen while slightly misty eyed himself, lol, Tom and I talked about our nights before "Buddy Up".  As I put together the last of the registrations and checked my "to-do" list for the millionth time, Tom was getting himself together at his house.  Maybe at the same time, maybe just through cosmic forces, or just simple angst over the hard work we know we put in this, we both had a moment of "Omgoodness what if no one shows?!".  Even though I was looking at over 100 registration forms and knew that we'd have more walk-ups, I still just had a classic Sagittarian moment of self-doubt.  I pushed it aside as best I could and managed to crawl into bed around 2:30am and got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, thinking we've done all we can do, and whatever you do Kat, just don't cry for goodness sake. Lol.

Having been a Police Officer for a while now, I know that there is something about a line of traffic cones that attracts mischievousness.  At 6:00am, I turned the corner on the roadway on the way into the school and saw just how much mischief was afoot the night before.  Really?! Cones were scattered and knocked down from the track all the way to our outdoor lower field.  Yes, really.  I put it in park, and the kid and I commenced to putting them back in place. *smh*  Lol.

They didn't look like this the night before.  Ugh.  :|

Cones back in their proper place and the course ready for buddies, it was time to cross off the last of the "to-do" list.  I can tell you, when I am at work, or when i'm waiting in line somewhere, or even when i'm working out and begging for time to go quickly, two hours never flies as quickly as it did during the time we were doing the last bit of set up.  To everyone who stepped up during that time, patient with me snapping - so very sorry :( - I can't tell you how much we value your efforts.  And then... before I knew it... we were starting the event.  Holy smokes Batman, it was time! Eek!  So we did what we do... and we started.  :)

Yeah Buddy!

Yes people, we held our very first "Buddy Up Against Bullying: A Run for Hope, 5K & Virtual 5K" today at Reedy Creek Middle School in Cary, NC!  We did it!  We absolutely did it!  We ALL certainly "buddy up" did it!  

And...

we are going to do it again too!  :)

- Mucho hugs and thanks, Officer Christian.   ♥

Virtual 5K Underway!

Yesterday a group of 25 elementary school girls ranging in age fom 8 to 13 years old, donned their Buddy Up Against Bullying bibs and each ran about 1.5 miles.  Now while they may not have run a full 5K, I like to look at their run as the official start of the Buddy Up Against Bullying Virtual 5K.  Way to go girls!

If you haven't downloaded your bib yet, simply click HERE to do so.  

Tomorrow is the big day!  Gather your buddies and go for a run!  Have fun, and thank you for supporting Buddy Up Against Bullying.

TC

"Buddy-abu-lous!"

Take a look of a vid that one of our biggest parent supporters and her son made for us to help promote our event on Saturday!  Thank you so much! 

More Thanks

Not that we like to toot our own horn...but...HONK, HONK!!

I am so excited to see that Buddy Up Against Bullying is getting support from all over the globe.  When we launched the blog and had 30 hits in two days, I was so Thrilled.  Now here we are...a few thousand hits and eleven countries later!  And oh by the way...the run is this Saturday!

Thank you to all of our sponsors for "Buddying Up" with us, as well as all of our individual Buddies for supporting our cause, and stepping in to lend a hand to a couple of folks that really had no clue what was about to happen when they said, "We should host a 5K!"

Kat and I want to wish you a good run on Saturday wherever you may be, and whoever you may be running with.  Be safe, have fun, and thank you for your support!

TC

Anticipation...

I can't tell you how surreal it is to be here less than a week away to "Buddy Up".  This has been kind of like waiting for Christmas - waiting, waiting, waiting, and all of a sudden, it's here. :)

I am so proud of all the work Tom and I have put into this movement.  We've picked up supporters along the way, some silent, some who have really jumped in with two feet, some bringing coffee and croissants to keep me going and then making calls to get things moving.  (Thank you Robin!)  And now we are here... less than a week to go.  *smh*

So with less than a week to go, this is where we really need your help and support.  We've got event day covered, now we just need you to keep spreading the word about such an important issue.  Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and of course, check on our blog. 

More than anything, we'd love to see you all on our campus or out doing your activities wearing our race bib.  Send us the photos and we'll get them posted up.  Come on buddies!!!

Bullying and Absenteeism

As the time draws near for our run, I find myself continually blown away by the outpouring of support in the community, and really from around the globe.  To know that we have folks following our blog from almost every continent on earth (c'mon South America!!!) is just mind boggling to me. 

It also speaks volumes about how everyone around the globe sees bullying as a problem.  A problem that is not limited to one region of the world...or economic class...or race...or sex...or ethnic group...or religion.  Bullying is truly a global issue.  

Here in the United States, an estimated 160,000 children miss school every day out of fear of being bullied (source: bullyingstatistics.org).  EVERY day!  That's 800,000 bullying related absences a week across the nation.  Over a 180-day school year,  that's 28.8 MILLION bullying related absences! 

To put that into a different perspective, here at Reedy Creek Middle School (where Kat and I work), we have just under 1,000 students.  Imagine for just a moment, 160 schools the size of RCMS sitting absolutely empty every single day...all out of students' fear of being bullied.

No child should be made to feel like their only option is to skip school because they are afraid of being bullied.  Bullying is not a rite of passage, and it is not just a part of growing up.  This is an issue we can do something about.  Granted, we will not rid our schools of bullying overnight, but through events like the Buddy Up Against Bullying 5K & Virtual 5K, and other events around the country aimed at bringing awareness to the issue, we will make progress, change lives, and eventually wipe out bullying once and for all.

Thank you for your support...and please continue to spread the word about Buddy Up.

TC

The Updates!

So the support never stops... this week, Jerzees Activewear donated 300 pairs of socks to our event and Pepsi Bottling Ventures donated water to our event.  Absolutely fabulous! 

Also this week, we rolled out a new initiative to continue to educate the students.  Working with the school counselors, we started in the 6th grade and are continuing our way up to the 7th and 8th grade.  It has been really pretty awesome thus far.  Take a look at the new "Heartfelt Buddies" page we added to the blog to learn more about it.

Registration is open for the on campus 5K and of course, the Virtual 5K is also on-going.  Please, please, please, come join us, and continue to spread the word!

- KC