In which I give up the body for the love

Here's the thing: I'm pretty fat. I mean, if you haven't seen me lately, and all you know of me is my Brigadoon pictures from a ways back, then you might be surprised at the chub that has made itself welcome on my front. I just don't do, you know, activities. So you know that, if I were to do a major athletic event, there'd better be a dang good reason.

Which brings me to the Livestrong Challenge, a day of events in Philadelphia that include a 5K (not doing that), a 10 mile bike ride, and a 45 mile bike ride. I have volunteered (and even paid for the privilege) to ride in that. There is a problem, however, in that I need to raise $250 to qualify. The race is 8/24, so it's gotta happen by then. The good news is this: according to Facebook, I have approximately 375 friends. If they all chip in a dollar, I'm gravy like Thanksgiving giblets!

I've set what I believe to be a rather conservative goal of $500. I figure a few people (my parents, maybe) will be willing to chip in a lil bit wuxtree, plus people that I stop on the street and say crazy things to will probably give me quarters to make me go away. Either way, you need to give the Livestrong Foundation some cash via my webpage: http://philly08.livestrong.org/matthearn. Go do it, man, it actually does benefit cancerous individuals and their families. And if you don't, and I don't raise a lot of money, then when I have a coronary at mile 28 my obituary will be insufficiently glowing. Unacceptable. I'll put a link over in my list of, um, links, so you'll be reminded every time you come to matthearn.com, something you should be doing hourly, because even though my track record is usually twice-weekly posts with occasional month-long disappearances, I might start posting hourly! Anything's possible! I might even blog the race!

I'll probably be too busy passing out. Oh well.