Getty Owl Foundation

Here we go……2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk

From Kate:

I am so very excited to announce the 2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk is Sunday, February 24th in Sacramento at Crocker Park.

Planning a run is no easy feat. It seemed as though once last year’s run ended the planning  for this year’s run began. Getty Owl Foundation puts on several events throughout the year. I’ll be honest, the run is very special to me for a couple of reasons and I feel like with each passing year it will be even more of a labor of love.

Having so many people in one place to celebrate family and community makes my heart skip a beat. Knowing that every single person attending will know or hear something about Spinal Muscular Atrophy is something you cannot put a price on. To think that in the very least our participants will take the knowledge they have gathered and tell someone else one day. That is cool!

There are some really great additions to our race this year. First of all we are going “tech”. Our Getty Owl race shirt will be tech to all who register. I wanted to do this so bad last year, but we simply did not have the budget for it. But this year, it’s on! Tech shirts are lightweight and breathe well while you run. And they seriously last forever. We have a new race image on the front that I know people are going to love.

The race routes will remain the same from last year. We received some great feedback from runners and walkers alike that they enjoyed the scenic view of the Sacramento River.

Times for races will be the same:

1/4 mile Kids Run: 8:05am

5K & 10K Run/Walk: 8:30am

Okay so let’s talk about the 1/4 mile Kids Run. We have been overwhelmed this entire year with such gracious donations from all kinds of companies/organizations. So we decided to take three of them and make them giveaways. Promptly at 7:55am-ish Dinger, from the Sacramento River Cats and I will be pulling 3 lucky kid’s names for some really cool prizes.

4 Tickets to Fairytale Town

4 Tickets to The Sacramento Zoo

And…………………….

4 Tickets to Disneyland!!!!!!!!

Cool huh?

In order to be in the drawing you must sign up pre-registered for the 1/4 mile Kids Run. Meaning that you will not be in the running for the tickets if you are a late-register or register the day of. So if that isn’t incentive to sign up soon, I don’t know what is. Last day to pre-register is February 17th.

This year will have a lot of the same aspects of last year. All registrants will receive a tech shirt, goody bag, and post-race hydration and nutrients.

We will again have a post-race family festival. Vendors are being added pretty much every day. We want to thank the companies that have made it a priority to come support the race and our foundation. Here is the list so far of the incredible companies at the festival.

Age group winners will be announced and will receive a custom medal and gift for their hard work and accomplishment.  Award ceremony will begin at 10:00am in the park.

For all other event details either click here. Or go to the top of the page and find the “Events” Page on the website that has ALL the details from Race Info to Post-Race Sponsors. 

I want to take the time to thank several people and companies that have helped the Getty Owl Run/Walk possible. I would like to thank our crazy Getty Owl Foundation board of directors. Crazy meaning good. You all keep me grounded and I appreciate that and all of your hard work.

It has been a pleasure to work with Kellie and Rich from Capital Road Race Management and Julie from Nor Cal Ultras. Thank you all for your help and advice. So excited to put on another great race with your support. 

Last but certainly not least, our sponsors. When organizing any event, if you don’t have businesses supporting your efforts, an event just can’t happen. I would like to thank our major sponsors:

California Family Fitness 

Raley’s Supermarkets 

The Honey Agency

Fleet Feet Sports

92.1 K-Hits 

We would like to also thank many great sponsors that have helped make our upcoming 2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk a success.

Check out these sponsors.

With the race only 1 month away I wanted to let everyone know who  is reading this post that we appreciate your support. We created Getty Owl Foundation to be a part of the solution. We wanted to do what we could as a family and as a foundation to help fight Spinal Muscular Atrophy. SMA is cruel. As Getty gets older, she loses the very simple aspects of life that we may all take for granted. Eating, swallowing, standing, walking, jumping, hugging, talking, smiling….. We want to help end this disease not only for Getty but for all children/adults diagnosed with SMA. Even with the extensive list I have mentioned, in the same breath, there is so much hope on the horizon in regards to research to help find a viable treatment and/or cure.

We were told that Getty would unlikely see her 1st birthday, let alone her 2nd. As a family we are so proud of our little owl, rather little lady owl, she is surpassing all the statistics and there is no stopping her. She will be turning 3 in March, Hoot! Hoot!  This year, not only will Getty be in attendance for the run, but so will many of her SMA friends that are also defying the odds. We are so thankful to be in such good company. We look forward to walking together in solidarity that our kids are warriors and they love life and they do deserve a cure.

With the accompaniment of technology, Getty can speak with the assistance of a computer and very soon Getty will be traveling around with the assistance of a power chair.

That is what this event is about. Educating the public about SMA and helping to raise money for research that one day, someday soon researchers will find a viable treatment or cure for all of our kids and adults and those that have yet to be born.

We hope you register for our 2nd Annual Getty Owl Run/Walk.  We hope you have a wonderful time. We hope that you walk away from the event knowing more about SMA than you did before and we hope that you take what you have learned and tell others. Knowledge is very powerful.

On behalf of our entire board of directors at Getty Owl Foundation, we thank you for helping us be a part of the solution.

Oh and it is the end of February, it will be cold, dress warm. I have already told mother nature not to rain. So we are covered. 🙂

Hope to see you there. Register HERE is you are ready to go!

The Lonely Goatherd

From Kate:

At some point over the Christmas break, Getty and I watched The Sound of Music. I really enjoyed it as a kid, even though I was never able to quite finish it, due to its duration. But you know Getty certainly did. She was glued.

Julie Andrews, hands down is one the best singers of all time. Her passion and animated songs are so very timely and beloved. So when it came on at some point in these past few weeks, well I thought maybe Getty would enjoy it, purely for the uplifting songs. SHE LOVED IT! I was so happy. Her eyes were glued to the TV and when Julie Andrews would hit those high pitches, she was just so excited. A few of the songs she liked more than others, as you can gather.

She loves Do-Re-Mi. That is one that her mama can hang with. I can also sing, (not good mind you) Sixteen Going on Seventeen. There were times during the movie when she would look up at me as if to say, “how do you know what they are about to sing mom?” That look is priceless. Then she goes back to watching the movie. She had a few meltdowns, as to be expected after a song was over. We are still working on that. Oh and she also really likes My Favorite Things.

But there was one in particular that completely got her attention. Since that night I have purchased the album and found the best Youtube version of the song for her to see and hum to. The Lonely Goatherd is the cat’s meow right now, or maybe the goat’s yodel. 🙂 I am doing my best to yodel, not quite how Julie Andrew’s would have done it, but I am trying my best. Getty LOVES this song and add a few puppets, SOLD!

So I am guessing perhaps Getty and I will be getting into music theater soon. I will need to find another fun musical for her to swoon to, just like The Sound of Music. Suggestions are very welcome.

Here is the best video I could find online of the song. I give you The Lonely Goatherd. 🙂

http://youtu.be/7_PJPDMXHOw

Happy New Year!

We hope 2013 brings happiness, warmth, serenity, openness, love, friendship, and humor.