Virtual Run for Sherry Arnold

I have been reading about Sherry Arnold's disappearance since the first few hours she went missing.  I usually read the Shut Up and Run blog weekly anyway so when she posted her cousin was missing after going on a run, it felt like someone I knew and was very personal.  I think it is personal on another level too, not only because she was a runner, like so many of us, but also a mother, a wife, a teacher, a daughter...She could have been me or any of my friends.

It hurts to know that a family is missing a piece and that it was at the hands of some awful men that chose to do this, but I do believe that we as a people must always look for the good in the bad.  I know that after this terrible tragedy in Montana, many runners - women especially - will be looking over their shoulder a little more, a little more aware, when they run or when they are in the parking lot of the mall and other places.  Knowing that it can happen to any of us, and that we are not the invincible person that we like to think we are - might empower us and help us to stay out of situations that might be dangerous or at least know what to do if something were to happen.  It also makes me realize that life is fleeting, can be over in an instant, so think about how you treat people, family, friends.  Obviously, Sherry was an amazing woman.  She touched many lives in her town and students at her school where she taught.  That is how we should all live, like today is our last because obviously you never know, it might be.

So if you care to join me and many around the world in honoring Sherry, there is going to be a virtual run in Sherry's honor on February 11th.  You can run, walk, whatever you like to do.  Just get out there and do it.  You can print up a bib and read more about the virtual run here Virtual Run for Sherry.  My friend Catherine and I will be running the Orphan Trail Half Marathon in Huntsville, TX that day in her honor.  Please join me in supporting her family during this time.