Crunch Time

It's all happening now as we turn the corner into the final stretch of the Extra Mile campaign.

One of my favorite bands while in college was "The Smiths", and as I contemplate now the final few weeks of the running, I can hear Morrisey's melodramatic voice moaning in my head... "why is the last mile the hardest mile?"

We are very close to reaching our goal of 1000 miles in five months, but I have to be honest, we have our work cut out for us.

September came and went with a total of 161 miles in the bank. I took advantage of two significant substitute donations in September- the first coming from a very special part of the VU MSO family in Lizz Lewis. Lizz was our athletic trainer during the 2007 season, and as our coaching staff were all going through that year together as rookies here at Valparaiso, Lizz was in on the ground floor of this building project. Lizz completed her Master's Degree and is now working in professional baseball with the Evansville Otters, but she is still connected to the program and has supported us in many ways since her departure. An avid runner, Lizz completed a training run in September of 11 miles, and I am happy to add that to our total. Thanks Lizz!

For my second September substitution, I have borrowed a training run from a man that I hope to be calling on again as a substitute runner in less than 24 hours from now- Ed Bermes. Eddie Bermes is a Valparaiso alum, a big advocate of youth soccer in NW Indiana, and a major supporter of our VU MSO program. Most importantly to us, though, is that Eddie and his wife Kelly have let us have his son, senior midfield player Brett Bermes, for four years - truly a great gift.

Eddie has been diligently training for the Chicago Marathon on October 12th, and as part of that preparation he successfully completed a 20 mile run on a Sunday morning in September that he has generously given us. Thanks Eddie - and go get 'em in Chicago (we need the big total for October - no pressure!).

This extra 31 miles through substitutions combines with the 161 that I stumbled through for a total of 192 miles in September.

Through the end of September, we have knocked out 818.3 miles, and I have so far run 45 miles in the first 9 days of October.

We have a grand total of 863.3 miles in the bank.

136.7 miles to reach the 1000 mark, and 24 days to do it.

5.7 miles per day for 24 straight days would do the trick, but the reality is that it will not be as simple as that. We have a few road trips remainng in the season, which means these times on the road will be more bus miles as opposed to running miles.

I do have two substitutes for October to use - and the aforementioned Chicago Marathon to hope for - so my confidence is high that we'll reach our goal in time.

I hope you can join us on November 2nd at 10am to help celebrate the end of the Extra Mile, and to honor our senior class before the last regular season home match. If you are free to attend the pancake breakfast we are planning for the morning of November 2nd (and the 1:00pm home game that will follow), please let me know so I can get an accurate count.

Okay? Okay... I've got a few hours before the bus leaves for Cleveland. I have to get the lawn mowed, pack a bag, have lunch with my beautiful wife, and get in a run... so gotta run for now.

Talk to you soon,

Mike