Schedule Changes

Jake posted a running schedule on Saturday, but we've had to make some changes.

Instead of going to the track at La Canada on Sunday and to the LA Athletic Club on Tuesday, instead we've done something we call the Lake Avenue Challenge.

The Lake Avenue Challenge is a race (which sadly for me Jake always wins) between the two of us up the half-mile slope from our street to the top of Lake Avenue in Altadena. It climbs probably 250 or 300 feet in that time, so it's a tough grade.

This is, though, good preparation for the Chinatown race, which is very, very hilly.

How to Join Team Jake

If you're not sure how to join Team Jake, it's amazingly simple: just send an email committing to fulfill your pledge once Jake's upcoming race finishes.

Click this to email your commitment.

If that doesn't work for you, send an email to jim.mccarthy@gmail.com.

And remember, if Jake:

*Finishes the race (a given, pretty much), your pledge is $10
*Breaks his Personal Record (or "PR," which is currently 24:11), your pledge goes up another $5
*Medals (1st, 2nd or 3rd in his age division), your pledge goes up another $5
*Wins his age division, it goes up another $5

That means, if he wins and breaks his PR, your pledge would be $25.

I'm also happy to report that Jake has enough team members now that if he wins, he's most of the way to sponsoring his second child for one year. Help us hit that mark!

Thanks, Suzanne!

Suzanne O'Connor from Bargainsla.com sent this site out to her mailing list this week, saying:

"So blown away was I when I found out about 7 year old Jake McCarthy who regularly runs long distance 5K races for World Vision charity, I just had to tell all of you about it. Encouraging children to help others is always at the top of my list."

Full disclosure: Suzanne frequently links to my company, Goldstar Events on her site, but this mention of www.JoinTeamJake.com was purely from the goodness of her heart.

La Verne Finish Line

Here's Jake about to cross the finish line at the La Verne race back in October.

He ran very, very well that day and set the Personal Record that he's going after in this next race.

18 Days til Chinatown!

Now that the catastrophic winds have died down, Jake got back on the track.

He's going to post his results later in the day, so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Join Team Jake! We're most of the way to 2 kids sponsored if Jake wins.

Crazy winds!

Jake and I were slated to go running right up Lake Avenue this morning, which is a very steep 1/2 mile up from our house to the top, but we had wind gusts of 50 to 70 mph for most of the night and into the morning...trees down everywhere, powerlines drooping, branches and debris a-flyin'.

So we decided to skip today's run, but that won't stop Team Jake!

3 Weeks Left!

Just 21 Days until Jake hits the road! A string of 5000 firecrackers is the starting gun for the Chinatown Firecracker 5k race. Once the evil spirits are scared away, Jake will be chasing his Personal Record and a gold medal in the under 10 division.

By the way, if you want to join Team Jake, just email me. After the race, we'll send you the results and a link to make your WorldVision donation.

If Jake:

*Finishes, your pledge is $10
*Medals (finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd in his age division), add $5 more
*Breaks his Personal Record (currently 24:11), add $5 more
*And if he wins his age division, add another $5.

That means if all goes as planned, you can JOIN TEAM JAKE and your pledge will be between $10 and $25, depending on the results.

By the way, THANKS TO THE MANY who have already sponsored.

Please forward the URL of this site-www.JakeRunsForKids.com- to anyone you know who'd be interested in following the running adventures of Jake McCarthy.

No running today

Jake had a soccer game this morning and is now on an overnight Birthday Party (including a trip to see the LA Kings hockey team).

It's a well earned break from the running!

Link to Jake's Personal Record (PR)

I thought I'd link to the race where Jake broke his Personal Record last October.

Scroll down the page quite a bit and take a look at the under 12 Division, and you'll see his name and time there. He finished third behind an 11 and a 12 year old.

MPS Society Race in La Verne

Note that he would actually have finished 2nd in the 13 to 19 year old division, but the field there wasn't strong. Still. Jake and a couple other strong under 12s showed up in La Verne and made that field stronger than the teenagers. Nice job, Jake, Christian and Matthew!

Holly from the "One" Campaign

Holly Hight from the One campaign wrote in to say:

" Wow! It's amazing what Jake is doing to raise awareness about children around the world!"

Thanks, Holly

23 days until Chinatown!

Join Team Jake!

Last Year's Award Ceremony

This is Jake getting his 2nd place medal in last year's Chinatown Firecracker 5k in the under 10 division. He was 6!

Yes, that's Ted Chen (of NBC 4 in LA) looking sharp in his traditional Chinese silk shirt and newsman's tie.

Yes, the beauty queens are enjoying giving Jake a medal.

24 Days Until Chinatown!

Join Team Jake with just an email, and if Jake:

Finishes, your Worldvision pledge is $10
Breaks his PR (Personal Record, currently at 24:11), it's another $5
Medals (1st, 2nd or 3rd in age division), another $5
and if he wins his age division, another $5.

At the moment, if he wins and PRs, he's more than half way to a one-year sponsorship of a child, so help put him over the top!

This is an old picture of Jake from November 2004, when he was running in a race in Agoura Hills, California. Notice that neither foot is touching the ground! It was a good race for Jake, and I enjoyed it too. In fact, I wrote a funny column about it, which you can find here.

More importantly, JOIN TEAM JAKE! If you're not sure how it works, take a look at the post two down from here.

JOIN TEAM JAKE

It's time to join Team Jake for the Chinatown Firecracker 5K on February 12. He's running to raise enough money to sponsor one child for one year through Worldvision (see more about them here), which amounts to $360.

Here's what you do:

Send us a pledge email saying that you're on the team for this race.

If Jake:

Finishes the race, you pledge $10
If he breaks his Personal Record ("PR"), which is currently 24:11, you add another $5
If he medals (that is, first, second or third place in his age division), you add another $5
and if he wins, you add another $5.

That means, you're on the hook for a maximum of $25 and a minimum of $10.

After the race, we'll send everyone a Thank You card with the results and a link so that you can go directly and do the money online. It should work in the UK just fine too.

Join Team Jake!

This is Jake wearing the 2nd place medal in the under 12 division for his October race in La Verne, California.

25 Days Til Chinatown!!!

Today I ran 2 miles. It took me about 15:00 minutes. I left at 7:00 and woke up at 5:00. I went to a track in La Canada, LA.It was about 36 degrees fahrenheit. The track was very bumpy because a bicycle had been through. This was a pretty good run for me. Although my first 2 laps didn't go very well.



that's about all I have for you today


Jake

27 Days Left Until Chinatown!

About this site

Jake (in the red shirt and cool glasses) loves to run. In this picture, he was helping his little sister and another girl as they were getting ready for the "Kiddie K." He had just finished beating 3/4ths of the grown ups in the 5k, but wanted to help the little guys stay safe on the course.

He has a soft spot for other kids, and so a few weeks ago, he decided to start dedicating his races to children in far away countries that don't have the basics of life: food, shelter, education.

Here's how it works: Jake will use this site as a way to keep people updated on his training and racing schedule. Right now, he's targeting the Firecracker 5k on February 12th in Chinatown, Los Angeles.

Last year, Jake had a good race in Chinatown, finishing second in the under 10 division at the age of 6. This year, who knows?

If you want to be part of Team Jake, it's pretty simple. Commit to making a small donation to Worldvision's Sponsor a Child program. (For more about Worldvision, go here.) Join his team for one race, and if Jake:

• Runs and finishes the race, you donate $10
• Breaks his Personal Record (aka, "PR"), another $5
• Medals in his age division, another $5.

That means, joining Team Jake puts you on the hook for a maximum of $20. Jake's goal with each race is to raise enough money to sponsor a chlid for a full year ($360), so of course, if you'd like to go above that level, it just makes it easier.

Check back frequently, because Jake will personally be recording his thoughts about his training as we get closer to race day. We'll post pictures as well, and you'll enjoy seeing the progress and plenty of great shots of Jake with medals around his neck.

And, finally, as Jake would say, See You at the Finish Line!