Official Results by Division

Here you can see the official results by Division, showing Jake in first in his by about nine minutes:


Also, if for some reason you'd like to buy a picture of Jake in this race, the official photographers got a pretty good one of him. You can buy one if you want.

Jake's bib number was 1347, so enter that in, and you'll see the options on that picture.

Also, hidden in a mysterious location on that finishshots.com site is a picture of me approaching the finish line...DO NOT under any circumstances try to find it...

Rough Cut of Jake's TV Appearance

This is a first take, with voice over and more editing to come.

Over the Top!

Team Jake had pledges totalling $775 for this race, and as of now, we've collected $800!

Thanks to everyone for pledging and keeping your pledge.

If you haven't had a chance yet, please go to this page. It's nearly painless...

Update on Jake's Video Clip

Thanks (again) to the wonderful Gigi Johnson, Jake will not only be appearing on TV, but will also be seen in an extended version of the piece online. We'll post it here, but also it will be available on Google Video. She expects to be finishing up with that next week, and we'll post it immediately, of course.

Thanks also to those who've made their contributions, because we're almost 100% of the way collected. Wow, that was fast!

Jake said he was going to try to post at least once a day during this lull, so be sure to check in from time to time for what he's got to say.

The race in March, as I said yesterday, is not a sponsorable race because it's not USAT&F certified. Jake will be running against his classmates and their parents, and it's more of a local event. Also, since it's aimed at raising money for a specific cause, we don't want to distract from that. If you're interested, I can tell you how you can contribute to the rebuilding of the Mississippi school it's supporting when the time gets closer.

Wow! That's fast!

We've already collected on almost 75% of pledges, which is great! Thanks for being so quick about getting the money over to WorldVision, everyone. If you haven't done it yet, go here.

Also, you'll find it interesting to see that Jake is one of the top fundraisers on WorldVision's new "Team WorldVision" site as a result.

Also, I'm excited to announce that Jake is running on March 17th, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, in a race called "Run for Rita." His school is doing it to raise funds for a school destroyed by Hurricane Rita in Mississippi. It will NOT, however, be a sponsorable Team Jake event, because it's not a certified USA Track and Field event and therefore, Jake's time doesn't really, really, really count. (I'll still keep you posted though!)

How to complete your pledge

If you'd like to see the official results of the race, they are posted at the race's website.

To complete your pledge of $25, go to Jake's donation page.

Thanks again for being a member of Team Jake. As the year moves on, he'll be doing more, and I hope you'll support him then too.

One of Elizabeth

She ran very well too in the Kiddie K, and has the Finisher's Ribbon to prove it!

Another Medal Picture

Last year on the top (note the silver cord) as compared to this year on the bottom. Yes, Gold cord.

BREAKING NEWS from Chinatown!

Although the results haven't been posted online yet (and are therefore not officially official), Jake did it!

He ran his 5k in 24:08 on a very challenging and hilly course, breaking his old PR (set on a fast, flat course) of 24:11.

And finally (drum roll please)....

That put him in 1st place in the boys under 10 division! He won!

More to come shortly...

Good luck, Jake!

We're just two days away now, and Jake is going to do a short warm-up run, but other than that, training is finished for this race. He's been running quite well, with his last 5k being just around 24 minutes (though he said that he was running a little more slowly because he had to stay with the middle schooler that had been assigned to run ahead of the pack with him.)

Thanks to Rich Webster, Dave Meiners and Nick Beresford for joining Team Jake in the last couple days. We're now at a point that Jake will meet his goal of sponsoring a child for one year no matter how he performs. If he wins and PR's, he'll actually exceed 2 years of sponsorship.

I must say though that I'm trying to emphasize to him that no matter how he does, he's already done well. He can get slightly nervous, and I always have to remind myself that he's 7...

This picture is last year's award ceremony where Jake got his 2nd place medal from the Chinatown New Year's beauty queens. Very cute.

Almost there...

Once again, Jake ran well out in front of me in the Lake Avenue Challenge.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the geography of North Altadena (and who isn't these days?), Lake Avenue runs from Pasadena all the way to the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. It also runs just a hundred feet or so to the east of our house.

The Lake Avenue Challenge is when Jake and I run up the 1/2 mile steep slope from our house to the very tip top of Lake Avenue, at the Mt. Lowe Trailhead, where you used to be able to take a funicular to a fancy hotel high in the mountains. All gone, thanks to a series of fires about 70 years ago.

Anyway, from there, we walk back down to the top (In Altadena, you generally refer to things being at the "top" or "bottom" of something because of the slope) of Farnsworth Park and race back to the house from there.

I almost always lose that too. I've gotten used to it, since it happened the very first time I ever ran with the boy, back when he was 6.

The picture above is of Altadena and its mountains, but from some years back. Now there are more Jack-in-the-Boxes and houses with Bonus Rooms and not quite so many trolley cars that carry you into the mountains.

Anyway, the race is now just 4 days away! Thanks to Lisa Hogan for joining Team Jake. If you haven't joined, there's still time. Email me as soon as you can.

About Jake's TV appearance

Thanks to Gigi Johnson (fellow Anderson School alum), it does appear that there's going to be a short segment about Jake's running including some footage of the race on Sunday.

Once it's done, we'll post it here, of course.

Last few days before race...

Jake's just a few days away from the Chinatown race, and I'm trying to make sure he's relaxed about it. There's been a fair amount of attention, but still, no matter what happens, he should feel very successful and happy. He's a great little runner, but he's still 7; that means I have to balance the competitive encouragement with the fact that he's to be applauded regardless.

Last night, Jake had a Super Bowl-snack food induced stomach ache. He and I ate about more than our fair share of cheese and crackers, potato chips and pizza while watching the Steelers down the Seahawks. I tried to slow him down, but I figured the Super Bowl was a special occasion.

Thanks to Jeff and Lisa Geyser for joining Team Jake! If you want in, just write me.

Finally, I might have some news in a day or so about some TV coverage of all this. We'll see though.

Less than a week to go!

Thanks to all the new recent team members, including Tony Khazan and Steve Cohn.

Jake's looking good and getting excited about Sunday's run. There's still time to support him by joining Team Jake.

Just drop me a line and say you're in, and that's all it takes!

9 Days Away!

We're just 9 days from the Chinatown Firecracker 5K, so it's time to JOIN TEAM JAKE!

As a reminder, joining Team Jake just means pledging that based on Jake's performance in the race, you'll pledge up to $25 to his effort to support a third-world child through WorldVision.

So far, he's got the potential to raise enough money for ALMOST two years of sponsorship, but we need a few more Team Members to get there.

Just drop me a line saying you're on Team Jake and we'll send you an email with instructions after the race is finished.

Thanks to all the people who've supported Jake so far.