Ericha
Hey, I'm Ericha. I'm the one who got this thing going. I run R2R. I'm an athlete, trainer, and I like helping others. I am currently in college at the University of Tennessee studying Psychology and Frech. In my spare time, I like to read, listen to music, play the piano, go for jogs, do anything outside, plus more.
My Story:
Before High school, I dind't like to run. I thought that all I would ever be good at was basketball, but I was never REALLY good at that either. My cousin always beat me in races and was one of the top runners in her track and field camps. I started running when I was a freshmen in high school under the direction of Coach Horton. When Caoch Horton asked me about the cross country team, I thought that we would be travelling from country to country, but that wasn't quite the case, we actually had to run. I enjoyed being a part of something. I also enjoyed the way that practices were ran. but it seemed like the meet happend too soon. My first meet, I still wasn't quite sure what we were supposed to do, and coach said that it was just like practice at a different location. So I stood beside my teammates talking and laughing until time to take off running. Normally I was one of the last ones to finish on my team, but I made sure I hung with everyone else for fear of getting lost at the wooded location where we raced. I finished at a decent time, not because of my will to race but out of fear of being lost. It was the races which followed that one that i began to realize that I'm not very competitive when it comes to running, but I enjoyed it for other reasons. I loved watching races live or on television. I watched marathons and ironman races on television and just wondered if I could finish. i completed my first half marathon with experience of only running cross country 5k's. I finished 3.1miles in a little over2 hours. I walked A LOT, but after a while i reached a runner's high. I no longer felt my feet hurting, my legs were no longer heavy. It hurt more to stop than to continue. within the first 5 miles, my motivatin was the cause. I didn't quite understand the cause behind the race. I didn't understand Leukemia and lymphoma, but I understood that me running the race would save someone or at least lead to possible breakthroughs in research. If it wasn't for my initial motivation, I may have never made it beyond 5k. I may have never been able to see what a runner's igh felt like. I didn't win the race. I didn't place. But I finished. I help someone in the process. I hope that in the future, if I decide to do some research, that people who sign up to help me go all the way and finish what was started, just like me and the race.
I ran nashvile's half several times and intend to continue running it annually if my health permits. I haven't ran it in a cople years due to an injury, but I will be back out there this year 2009.
I am a member of Acive.com, where I receive lots of information on health, athletics, and marathons. This is where I first heard about the race in Ghana. I researched the cause and the validity of it. I came to the conclusion that this may be the most affordable race overseas that I can get involved in. Their cause is for their Longevity Project which seeks to improve the lifespan of Ghanains by awaring the public of preventable diseases. I think that the methods of communicating with thier public audience can lead to great insight of how to talk to the unhealthy audence of america, specifically African Americans with unheallthy practices. I beleive that learning to be healthyfor minimum cost is very important for our society, but not held as high of a value as it should be.
My personal interests in the health of others come from an interest of how one's healh state effects their psychological state, motivation, and goal succession.
I hope that I can figure out a way to motivate you and others to support that causes for which we run, wether it's volunteering, running, walking, or donating.
Thank you for taking the time to read my profile.