Fighting Addiction – 2016 Joe Davis Memorial Resolution Run – THANK YOU!

The 4th Annual Joe Davis Resolution Run took place on January 9, 2016, and, for the first time in the race’s 4 year history, the temps were not only not bone-chilling, they were perfect for racing!

As I have come to expect, a whole bunch of you #HIMs joined my family again this year to fight Addiction. We had 723 registered participants and at least 143 of those noted they were part of F3 Nation. (59 ran the 5k, with the Top 5 averaging 19:58. 64 ran the 10k averaging 39:39. #FAST) That is almost 20% and, combined with the 36 women from FiA, makes almost 25%! That spells IMPACT, men, and believe me, the community notices. In fact, they have come to expect a sea of black to descend on Walter Elisha Park one Saturday morning every January to lock shields and honor Joe’s memory by spreading awareness that a battle with Addiction does not mean the loss of Hope!

With your help, we raised just over $30,000 for Keystone this year, bringing our 4 year total to just over $97,000!!! No way this happened without the support of F3 the last 3 years. I am truly humbled.

You guys won’t ever know what your participation means to our family. I love seeing the leadership in motion and one of my favorite moments this year was looking out, as the sun rose, and seeing The Fort’s Worldwide Leader leading a COP/warm-up that was filled with race participants of all kinds in the circle! That is a great picture of what we need to do as #HIM.

WE NEED TO LEAD. If we do, others will follow.

Addiction is a monster and, even with the help of facilities like Keystone, those who struggle need YOU and ME. I wish I could tell you every story of when someone tells me, my mom, or my sister that this race matters. Many of you have told me. That is why we do it every year. We know it saves lives. If you were not there, or left early, the highlight this year for me was having a gentleman named Sean speak after the race. Keystone literally saved his life. He was at rock bottom and got his life back on track with Keystone’s help. It is hard for me not to think that could have been Joe, but Sean’s testimony helps us understand why we had to lose Joe. It was for God’s good.

Please know and be aware that Addiction is everywhere. You have no idea who is struggling. It could be a family member or a friend or a guy doing bear crawls beside you. Be there if you are needed. I hope everyone knows they can come to me if they are struggling. Anytime, anywhere.

So, some of you ran, some slept in for the cause, some volunteered, some prayed. YOU ALL MADE A DIFFERENCE!
Thank you and we hope to see you next year!

If you missed this event, I truly hope you will join us next year. You will no doubt see God’s work being done in a BIG way.

Special thanks to Slim Fast and Bushwood for Qing the event this year and to all the workout Q’s who supported it.

Special thanks also to The Fort Pax who have truly embraced this event on their home turf.

Special thanks to the men of Outland for their “virtual run” and gracious donation.

Special thanks to Subway in Metro and Riptide in Harrisburg for their constant RTs.

Special thanks to our sisters at FiA for their support.

In Him and with gratitude,
Rock Thrill

Please feel free to post comments about your experience below!

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Fly like an eagle for the 2nd day

  • QIC: Popeye
  • When: 02/02/16
  • Pax: Sgt York, Burgundy, Mayhem, Bogey, Posh, Bull, Smoke Wagon, Turbine, Apache, Water Boy, Van Wilder, Italian Job, Catfish, Shrute
  • Posted In: The Fort

YHC was honored to Q for the second day at #EaglesNest.  So since we blew our legs out on the Stair Master yesterday at #OldTown it was time for the 15 PAX that showed up some upper body work.

THE THANG – 

Warm up

I threw a curve ball to Apache and instead of starting off with the typical SSH we got right to it with…

  • Merkins X10
  • WM X10 (B/c we needed to stretch the hammies for the running portion)
  • SSH X10
  • MNC X10
  • Merkins X10
  • Squats X10

Mosey to the field next to Dinkins Building across Oakland Ave.

Pair up – While one man runs the length of the field the other does the following until the pair reached 100

  • 100 Squats
  • 100 Merkins
  • 100 LBC’s
  • 100 SSH
  • 100 Flutters

Mosey to the F3 Playground (Diggs Field)

GRAB A ROCK!

  • 10 Squats w/ the rock
  • Run the hill
  • 20 Rock Curls
  • Run the hill
  • 30 Over Head Presses
  • Run the hill
  • AMRAP – Most everyone made three rounds.

Mosey over to the picnic tables in front of the West Center Bldg.

OYO

  • 20 DIps
  • 20 Dirkins
  • 20 Irkins
  • 20 Merkins

Mosey back to COT where for the last 2 minutes we embraced our inner tree hugger with 1 minute of Al Gore & 1 minute of SSH.

DONE!

We have a lot of PAX who are going through loss of family and friends. Also a lot of PAX have family and friends who are fighting illnesses.  Let’s lift them up.

REMEMBER

  • Saturday – Clown Cars leaving Best Buy in Rock Hill 0615 for the official launch of #TheDragon – F3York. Lets help YHC build some momentum for this great thing we call F3 to western York County.
  • Yeti Race
  • Nun Run
  • Krispy Kreme Run

See newsletter and talk with other PAX about details and such.

Popeye OUT!

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Old Town Stair Masters

  • QIC: Popeye
  • When: 02/01/16
  • Pax: Italian Job, Pot Hole, Van Wilder, Boots, Mayhem, The Riddler, Creed, Sgt York, Burgundy, Posh, Shrute, Apache,
  • Posted In: The Fort

The gloom was actually a fairly warm 50 degree this morning for a baker’s dozen PAX at #OldTown.

THE THANG –

WARM UP –

  • Stretching – Touch toes – L over Right R over L – Legs Shoulder width apart Left Right Middle – Lower back Honey Mooning it.
  • SSH x15
  • WM X15
  • MNC X15
  • MERKIN X15

Mosey to the Freedom Temple Church Steps Line up along steps

  • Run steps to the top Run Down
  • Hopscotch Steps to Top Run Down
  • Run Up skipping a step Run down
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to the Hot Box (parking deck)

  • At the bottom of the stair well run up the steps – at the top complete 20 merkins – run to the other stair well but before running down complete 20 squats – Rinse and Repeat (X3)

Mosey back to the Freedom Temple steps and repeat one round

  • Run steps to the top Run Down
  • Hopscotch Steps to Top Run Down
  • Run Up skipping a step Run down

Mosey to fire escape stairs behind the building where Amilies is.

Partner up – While one man is running the six flights of stairs the other is at the bottom completing the following

  • Merkins
  • SSH
  • LBC’s
  • Merkins

This evolution must have caused a lot of oxygen deprivation due to the amount of mumble chatter about Long Horn Steak House and singing of loving you by Mini Riperton.

Mosey back to COT for 1 minute straight of SSH

DONE!

Thanks to all the PAX for allowing YHC for leading today.

REMINDERS:

  • Krispy Kreme Run – Feb 27th
  • Nun Run – Talk to Twister and/or Apache for deets.
  • Yeti CSAUP
  • Clown Cars from Best Buy in Rock Hill for #F3York Saturday wheels up 0615

Lift up all PAX that need healing through tough times.

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Taming the Dragon in York – Recon

The re-con operation of York Comprehensive High School was a success. So much so we have upped our hard launch date of F3 York to February 6th 2016 0700. Be there with your #EH’ed #TurkeyPunched #sadclowns!! However on this day 19 PAX including 1 FNG showed up to break ground on #F3York.

THE THANG:

The YCHS campus has so much potential for pain stations we barely scratched the surface. After a standard warm up we moseyed over to the YCHS Navy JROTC obstacle course where there was so many options YHC couldn’t think of what to start with first.  There is a dip bar where we did a variation of real bar dips, then CSPAN suggested we do a dip race which for those of us who still suffer from gravity issues was a real humdinger.

While half the group dipped the other half did a set of merkins and sqats at what I’m going to call the poles of pain.

The cargo net was a challenge of balance for all. There was a lot of mumble chatter about making sure everyone had good dental plans.

Next Bear Crawls under another station made of black culvert pipes. We all enjoyed watching Burgundy do his best Luke Kuechly impersonation, for one hopping over the waist high hurdles.

After a short mosey YHC handed off to Apache to take the reigns for a moment and it wasn’t very long before he found a painful Jacobs Ladder hill.  At the bottom Merkins at the top Burpees 5 to 1.

After a short mosey our man Pusher saw potential in a walk way with walls so BTTW & People’s Chair killed for a few rounds.

Mosey back to the COT for Menthol’s calf killing 200 SSH

For the last minute, Turbine threw in a half a parking lot of low country crab crawls for good measure.

All in all this, AO has huge potential for Turkey Punching the men of Western York County. Also now with Royal Site Qing Lake Wylie soon, this will be just like Operation Anaconda (Little Civil War Reference if you get it) squeezing the men of York County into taking the red pill towards becoming #HIM.

Afterwards and until further notice #coffeeteria will be held at Sandy’z (formerly Pope’s at the White House) across from the Moss Justice Center.  During this coffeeteria a #F3York board meeting was held and the vote was unanimous that this AO will be named #TheDragon for the historical reference that the York High School mascot years ago use to be the Green Dragons. We though Cougar would be more fitting for a FiA name. (Oops I said that out loud).

Check the Q List – Apache and I have already threw many of you to the Dragon. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mfnvJ9faf5NVFU9afWW4IDWBxJglS-4YFzZx39RGa4M/edit#gid=1726409880

Lets do this!

-Popeye OUT!

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Bait and Switch…if they only knew!! #sorrynotsorry

  • QIC: Longshanks
  • When: 01/30/2016
  • Pax: Macguyver, Hasselhoff, Flat Tire, Vector Victor, Javert, Sugar Daddy, Dawg Pound, Seacrest, Maximus, Crab Cakes, Cobra Kai, Gilmore, Gopher, Tesh, Peabody, Spiderman, Dark Helmet, Ginsu, Big Ben (FNG), Chubbs (FNG), Longshanks (QIC)
  • Posted In: The Fort

21 of the Fort’s finest descended upon WEP expecting a decent beatdown from Double D.  Little did they know that Double D was in Texas and YHC was in charge. Some thought about leaving and wondering if they had enough time to make it to the Yard instead.  Nobody actually left and we even had 2 FNG’s (a Longshanks Q’ed workout record).  With 2 FNG’s, a more thorough Disclaimer was given and we began our hour of pain.

The Thang

Mosey along the path and to some regular running, then butt kicks, then high knees, then toy soldiers.  Circle up in the middle of the big field for warmup (all IC):

25 SSH

20 IW

15 Windmills

15 Mountain Climbers

10 Slow Merkins

15 Mountain Climbers

25 SSH

10 Monkey Humpers (in honor of Double D)

10 Maktar N’diayes (in honor of Double D)

Mosey to the playground and partner up.  Explain Angie

Angie is 100 pull-ups, 100 Merkins, 100 Situps, 100 Squats.  I partner runs around the playground while the other works on the exercise.  Plank when finished.

After everyone finished me moseyed the the circular wall by the old Springs building.  10 Incline Merkins (IC), 10 Dips(IC) and 10 step-ups each side(OYO).  RInse and repeat. Finish with 5 derkins OYO.

Mosey down the path to the parking lot and grab some wall for the people’s chair. 3 10 counts and then 25 SSH. Rinse and repeat.  Then rinse and repeat a third time with 10 bombjacks instead of the SSH (mostly cuz Dark Helmet was running his mouth)

Mosey back to the park and line up in the field.  4 100 yard sprints courtesy of Dark Helmets article about sprints burning fat.

Circle up on the field after the last sprint for Dealer’s choice ab work about 8 minutes total.

COT and BOM

Announcements – Feb 6th – Oral Cancer Run (Bing), Feb 13th – Cupid Run (Boeheim), Feb 20th – Yeti.  new AO’s coming to York, Lake Wylie soon.  Maximus reminded us that if we haven’t found out “one word” for the year to do so.  My word is Sacrifice.

Prayers – None mentioned, but plenty of unspoken

Moleskin

  1. Great turnout this morning even as the region grows with new locations coming to York and Lake Wylie.  Sorry if you thought it was going to be Double D. #sorrynotsorry
  2. Welcome FNG’s Big Ben and Chubbs.  Make sure you get on twitter and connect with the rest of the guys in the Fort.
  3. Not a lot of mumblechatter today except from Dark Helmet and Flat Tire.  Guess humor is the best when embracing the suck.
  4. Great Job on Angie!!  Thought it would take longer.  PAX crushed it!!
  5. Not going to lie, I was a little disappointed last week when the weather was bad and we decided to cancel the Fort as it’s one of my favorite places to Q a workout.  So many different places one can go and tons of options for exercises.  Was fully expecting to come myself and receive a beatdown from Double D.  Was also excited to be able to talk with Double D as he has been a sound board to me as I’ve dealt with some Heart issues over the past month. Then Double D messaged me last night and told me he was in Texas.  I told him I would cover if needed and started working on a plan in my head.
  6. Until next time.  Keep on working to #getbetter  See you in the gloom soon!!! AYE
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PRE-BLAST: Uptown Lunch Gonna Funk You Up…

Oh me, oh my…
The revival begins on Feb. 5 at 1130, and will continue on the First Friday of EVERY month going forward. PUT IT IN YOUR CALENDAR.
Location: Jason’s Deli in the Epicenter Uptown.

The 2nd F Uptown lunch had sputtered and maybe even stalled, but just like two good F3 men who don’t know when to quit (yes sir, may I have another?) Italian Job and YHC decided it was time to get serious and make it a thing again. (Because somewhere in my brain-damaged mind, seeing you fools in the Gloom isn’t enough…)

BUT! You say, can’t we go somewhere else? Jason’s Deli isn’t my favorite… Answer: It’s a free country. Do what you want. But WE will be here. Trust me, we wracked our brains to figure out the best spot based on seating capacity, price range, proximity, etc. This is the spot. The VSF is planted and this is the plan until further notice.
I mean, I get it. Jason’s isn’t exactly gourmet. Might not even be all that #FuelChallenge friendly, but kind of like First F stuff, if you came for the food only, you may be missing the point. So, spread the word to all your favorite Uptown-working PAX, tell it in the COTs, tweet it, etc., and get over there for some high-quality 2nd F.

Again, the details are above. To reiterate, Jason’s Deli in the Epicenter. The First Friday of every month. At 1130.

Questions? Concerns? Please feel free to bug Italian Job with that crap.

Otherwise, see you there. It’s Friday morning and we’re in the spot… Don’t believe me? Just watch…

Helmet, out.

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Where are the cards…oh wait, never mind.

  • QIC: Maximus
  • When: 01/28/16
  • Pax: Chaser, Ginsu, Hauschka, Sasquatch, Geronimo, Mission Impossible, Shelby, Anchorman, CSPAN, WhatDid, Barry Manilow, Dark Helmet, Lego Land, Trucker, Change Order, Miagi, Spiderman, Mainframe
  • Posted In: The Fort, The Ranch

For those that know me, you know I always have a Weinke and I always keep those Weinkes. Looking at my most recent, I realized it’d been almost 2mos since my last Q. That is the longest stretch between Q’s for me and it is a testament to what is happening here in the Fort and surrounding areas. By posting, you’re setting an example and providing encouragement for those around you. Remember, you may think this is about you but take a listen next time a Q talks about how long he’s been doing “this F3 thing” and take note of what he says about the impact of the men to his left and right.

On to the task at hand: Once the last set of headlights and bouncing headlamp strolled into the Ranch, we had 19 strong. Blame it on the warmer weather or the pre-run, we even had a fella show up in short sleeves; I forgot to advise against that. I did however, provide a disclaimer and with an attorney present, we moseyed.

Circle up in the back lot for a little warm up consisting of:
Butt Kickers in place (thank you Richard Simmons)
Squat Jacks
SSH
Line up and bear crawl out then flip to reverse bear crawl when the Q decides it’s time, then forward, then reverse for an undisclosed length of time. You get the idea.

This is when I heard something I never thought I’d hear, “I came out for the cards, where are the cards?” I’m sorry, what?

Grab a partner and head to the playground:
Partner 1: 30 Pull Ups
Partner 2: Chair Sits with overhead claps until partner 1 finishes the 30 pull ups
Flap Jack

And, so here we go. It’s time for the deck of cards. This is not an easy routine but one of the great things about the cards is that they consistently challenge everyone. Whether you’re a crossfit star or a couch-rider, you will get to a point where you hate the cards. This is similar to the challenge we all face between the ears. We all encounter those moments where you think you can’t continue on. So what do you do? You open your eyes, turn your head to your left and right and realize that, like today, there are men out there going through the same thing and they’re pushing through because you’re there, so you need to do the same. They need you and you need them.

The exercises this time were:
Hearts = Mountain Climbers (104 Total)
Spades = Diamond Merkins
Clubs = Mak Tar Jah’s (104 Total) (My elbows say this is smarter to do this in the grass, sorry Dark Helmet.
Diamonds = Jumping Lunges (104 Total)
Wild Cards = 5 Burpees (20 Total)

We went through the deck 1 time and finished with a little ab lab:
Slow Flutters
LBC’s
Toe Touches
Toe Touches again but only because Anchorman requested it. Love the energy.

I spoke of my upcoming trip to Vegas and what I need to stay focused on during this trip. The temptations present aren’t an issue any more so by the grace of God, they’ll continue to be in the rearview mirror. So I’ll bring a deck of cards and a few hotel exercises from the PAX along with the memory of posting in the gloom. I appreciate the honor of Q’ing a great group of men and walking along side them.

Annoucements: P200 training runs Saturday from Pantheon. Looking to get a Q for the Mud Run; who’s up? AO change for the uptown 2nd F lunch, now at Jason’s Deli in uptown. Dark Helmet and Italian Job are Q’s. Launching Lake Waylie in the Spring, give them a follow on the machine. York High School scouting launch this Saturday…Popeye.

Prayers: A friend of Chaser’s wife just passed from cancer. Keep her family in the prayers. Prayer for the PAX and their families. Need some prayers to stay strong on the Fuel Challenge, too.

As You Were.

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PRE-BLAST: The Gloom is Coming to York, SC

Back at the 5-year anniversary Ultra-Convergence in Charlotte, something Dredd said at the end stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing this quote but it’s fairly close: “Some guy out there needs this. Some guy out there is wondering what the heck his life is all about. Some guy out there is being a lousy Dad. Some guy out there is being a lousy Husband. Some guy is out there is getting ready to get fired. YOU may be the only guy out there to help him.”

For months I’ve tried #EHing Deputies and other folks I work with to come to F3. Each time I swing for the Turkey Punch, they would ask, “When would #F3 come to York?”  No matter how hard I would Turkey Punch them to try out The Fort, The Patriot or any other AO, the excuse was, no one (right now) has the desire to wake up at 0 dark 30 to drive 20+ minutes to Rock Hill or Fort Mill to work out. Each time we’d end the conversation, I would answer “I didn’t know when F3 is coming to York, but we were thinking about it.”

Well it’s time to stop thinking! It’s time to pull the pin and throw the F3 grenade to York, SC.

At first, I didn’t think I should be the guy who lives in Catawba 30+ minutes away, to be the one to take the leap in being the site Q for a new AO in York. I work in York, so that was a lame excuse.  So after Dredd’s quote kept repeating in my head, a lot prayer and getting constantly #TurkeyPunched by Apache, I feel the call that now is the time to bring F3 to Western York County.

We can’t be selfish with this F3 thing.  From my perspective the first F is a by product of my favorite part, the second F.  Which has helped me be stronger in my third F.  I love this brotherhood. Many of you have become more than just work out buddies. You’ve become brothers to me, which I learned so well over the Christmas holidays.

So let’s do this!

RECON THANG:

We are planning a few recon workouts before we launch this thing full throttle.  The first is set for January 30th 2016 0700 to 0800 at York Comprehensive High School (275 Alexander Love Hwy. York SC). The folks in York call it York University, because from the road, the facility doesn’t look like a high school at all.  Apache and YHC are going to Q round one before we plant a shovel flag in York.

YCHS has most everything a F3 AO needs to bring the pain. Parking Lots, Hills, walls, an ROTC obstacle course, 1.75+/- perimeter for running. Plenty of options for a Q.

So now your job is to #EH guys you know who live in York, Clover and points between, to swallow the #redpill, and start this process of becoming a High Impact Man.

Popeye OUT!

 

 

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We wouldn’t run in circles all by ourselves

  • QIC: Boeheim
  • When: 1/21/2016
  • Pax: Decibel, Spud, Minuteman, Zima, White Lightning, Senator Tressel
  • Posted In: Alcatraz, Tempo, The Fort

YHC was the Q at Tempo today.  As Q’s go, this is a rather easy one. Fort the most part you say “Run!”

Today I provided a little more guidance so I could inflict the pain of an interval workout. The parking loops at Tega Cay ES are perfect for it. The big loop .33 miles w/ a slight upgrade for the “fast track.”  The small loop is just about .20 for a “recovery track.”

The Thang:

After a mosey from Trailhead and a dynamic warm up around the big loop, we were off.  8 sets of spinning around the black circles while on the lookout for a few icy patches.

While I was trying to draft off of Senator, Minuteman & Spud (and failing miserably) I was also trying to come up with a message for COT.  I had to put some thought into this Q after all.  Maybe I could use the icy patches as a metaphor (you’ll find out in the NMM).

Mosey back to Trailhead.  Running hard. Qing easy.

NMM

As we started to head back to Trailhead and mumble chatter about our laps, Decibel ended up putting a new spin on our old adage.  We always talk about how we wouldn’t do “all these burpees on our own” or “we would have stopped these merkins a long time ago if we weren’t at the F3 workout.”  Well Decibel pointed out that “We wouldn’t have kept running in circles all by ourselves.”

But maybe we do in the metaphorical sense.  When we have an issue at work or an issue with family, how many of us go over and over and over the problem in our head without looking for help?  I know my biggest “circular issue” right now is my career.  That’s a reason I’m really looking forward to the 3rd F convergence at Eternal tomorrow.

What’s going round and round in your head?  Can you talk to your M about it?  Do you reach out to the Sky Q?  Can you talk to a PAX about it?  I’ve heard many great stories of our HIMs being there for each other.  And I’m proud of all the F3 PAX stepping up for each other.  Laps on the track help the 1st F. Laps in the head aren’t good for anyone.

Prayers & Praises

Noah Fike’s NIC-U buddy Jonathan still fighting

Zima’s wife skillfully juggling career marriage & family

Annoucements –

3rd F Convergence tomorrow 1/22 @ Eternal Church

Oral Cancer 5K 2/6/2016 – http://f3nation.com/2016/01/09/pre-blast-oral-cancer-foundation-run-in-memory-of-jeremy-blevins/

Cupid’s Cup 5k 2/13/2016 http://f3nation.com/2016/01/20/pre-blast-the-best-laid-plans-cardiac-rehab/

THE YETI – 2/20/2016 http://f3nation.com/2015/11/03/the-yeti/

Proudly,

Boeheim

 

 

 

 

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Pre-Blast – The Best Laid Plans & Cardiac Rehab

About two years ago, I made some plans.

The plan was to drop some extra weight.  I started working out with the ferns and was off to a decent start.  Luckily I was EH’d by Pusher into F3 and not only did the extra weight come off, but then some.

The plan was to get my cholesterol to a respectable number without meds.  That happened too, and then some.

The plan was to NOT to have a heart attack. That’s where my luck ran out.

On February 13, I will be participating in the Cupid’s Cup 5K. This fundraising event supports Carolinas Medical Center’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center. I happen to be a proud graduate of the 12 week program, having had a heart attack early last year. The work I put in with F3 helped my recovery and I am convinced it made my “event” less severe. But not everyone is so lucky. And not everyone who needs the center can afford it. So it’s important that I use my advantage of a full recovery to raise awareness of this great facility. My LAD (left artery descending) now has three stents. You can use my fundraising page (tinyurl.com/cupidcup2016) to help support this great cause.  My goal is to raise $300 per stent for a total of $900. Rock Thrill & Deacon gave me a great start last week with their generous gifts.  Whatever you can spare to help reach this goal will be greatly appreciated.

It would also be awesome to have some PAX join me at the event. It’s a great course through the Dilworth neighborhood. Here’s the link to register for the event itself.(http://tinyurl.com/CupidCupRegistration)  Use the “F3-Fort Mill” team.

As we all know, we make plans and life happens (or the Sky Q laughs).  My roadblock while scary was not a huge burden in the long run.  I’m grateful for the support of my F3 brothers, other friends & family.  Because of that support system, I was able to overcome the emotional side of my recovery easily.  And without that roadblock I would never think to raise awareness for a facility such as the Cardiac Rehab Center.  Thanks to their awesome work, I look forward to supporting them for many years to come.

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