Really Special Idiots

Saturday morning we set out to run the longest single run of our 100k training.  A 50k training run felt daunting, and we spent a lot of time thinking about it all week, then woke up with nervous "race bellies" the morning of.  After all...

And it must take a REALLY special idiot to run an ultramarathon training run!

It turns out that all our worrying was for nothing.  The run went surprisingly well.  We started conservatively, and fueled and hydrated well, including a stop at Tim Horton's to share a bagel with cheddar cheese.  Part of our long run training is to help us figure out how best to eat on race day, so we have been practicing eating real food during training runs.  This was by far the best bagel we have ever eaten!

As we ran up the street to our house Lesley and our niece were standing on the porch after having made an emergency stop to use the facilities.  She commented that we were both still smiling, we felt 'that' good.  For the rest of the day it felt like we were in a bit of a bizzaro world.  We knew we had run an ultra marathon that morning, but we definitely did not feel like we did after our first 50k, or even our second.  It was a huge confidence builder, really helping us to realize that our fitness and endurance have improved dramatically with our training, and that we will be ready to tackle 100k on September 12th.

100k race day is fast approaching.  We have been truly humbled as we have seen our fundraising total rise over the past few weeks.  You guys are the people who make this all happen!  Thank you so very much.  

Big thanks to...

***Mikhayla***

***Mary Anne***

***Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Dave***

***Granny***

***Ryan and Lindsay***

***Laura***

***Stephanie***

***Avery and Mike***

We also want to announce two more incredible corporate sponsors.

Running Ronald fits here

Many of you know that Leigh and I met as High School students working at our local McDonald's restaurant.  We have always looked back fondly to McDonald's as not only the place that we met, but as our first job experience that taught us so many things that have been vital in our subsequent education and employment experiences.  Part of what made those experiences so positive and meaningful was the leadership and pride the owner/operators of that restaurant demonstrated.  Dave and Lucy Beatty were always a pleasure to work for.  They have stepped up and been incredibly generous in their contribution to Cooper's Troopers.  We are humbled and grateful.  You can show them some McLove by stopping by one of their restaurants (Sandalwood, Kingspoint, Bovaird Walmart, Bovaird, Brinkley) when you are in the Brampton area.  

Our most recent Corporate Sponsor is award winning Internet Security Firm eSentire.  Based out of Cambridge Ontario, with offices in New York, Boston, London, and Ireland, eSentire delivers advanced cybersecurity capabilities to mid-sized enterprises.  They have pioneered industry leading frameworks for protecting businesses against cybercrime, monitoring client networks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  They have been so generous in their contribution to the run.  We thank them for their commitment in affecting positive change  for children in our community!