There are few things as inspiring or moving to me as Coach Jimmy Valvano's speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards. I have attached a link to it here.

It was soon thereafter that my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. I will never forget the day she told me. She was incredibly optimistic and said the surgeon was going to go in, take out a piece of her lung and she would be back to normal. Well, he soon found that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. Her chance of survival was minimal, but her spirit was tremendous. She always told me she would be ok. I could tell by the look on my Dad's face that she probably wouldn't. Then came the fight of her life. All of the radiation and chemotherapy made her incredibly sick (not to mention weak and bald), she is a small woman to start with and how anyone could go through what she did and keep fighting is awe inspiring and the definition of perseverance.

As my family prayed for the best but prepared for the worst, things went in an amazing direction. Because of the efforts of the Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital and my mother's fight, the cancer went into remission and never came back.

While my father's legacy was teaching my sister and I the joy of running, my mother's legacy was teaching us the joy of life. We are an incredibly lucky family to be able to celebrate her birthday with her every year since. I want our events to help support causes that give other families the same joy.

This year I asked the American Cancer Society's Determination program to join our other great charities at Cap City on behalf of my Mom and the millions of other cancer survivors. For those that join the Determination Program we will include an MIT training program and VIP upgrades that include the official race jacket, catered breakfast, catered lunch and private bathrooms on race day. Do a remarkable thing by helping us create a world with less cancer and more birthdays and we will make your race day remarkable. When I added these amenities to the already tremendous Determination program, Kristy Kalnitzky from ACS knew I was passionate about the cause and committed to making this one of the best Determination programs in the country, but I am not sure she knew why.

ACS is the "Official Sponsor" of birthdays. We are going to kick off our Birthday Party Celebration on the evening of Thursday May 5th at our health and fitness party. Then on race morning, right before the band plays the National Anthem, all 15,000 participants will join me, Mayor Coleman and Andrea Cambern in signing Happy Birthday to "CELEBRATE" all cancer survivors.

Happy Birthday Mom.

The Capital City Half Marathon wants to help raise ONE MILLION Dollars for charities at this year's event.

THE CAPITAL KIDS AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM is again going to be the exclusive beneficiary of the Capital Kids Mascot Chase and an official charity of the Capital City Half Marathon.

M3S Sports is going to provide over 1,000 pedometers to the children in these programs in January. Any child that logs 13 miles before May 1st will run or walk the last .1 down Nationwide Avenue and through our finish line during the event to complete their own Half Marathon.

RUN FOR A REASON! - In 2011, Team in Training will, for the 7th year in a row, be an Official Charity of the event.

I have worked with Andrea Zelinski from Team in Training for years as TNT participants in Cap City have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. TNT is hoping to raise well over $200,000 from this event alone in 2011. The money will go toward research, patient services and education in efforts to find a cure for blood cancers.

MAKE YOUR MILES MORE MEANINGFUL! As mentioned above, the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation program will be an Official Charity for 2011.

The event will continue to support a number of other local, regional and national charities. We would welcome new charity partners or to have you be part of our charity volunteer program. Come check us out.

No need to train for 13.1 or 6.55 miles by yourself. Join MIT and train with over 500 of other runners and walkers as they get ready for Cap City.

A huge thank you to Tim and Jeff over at MIT as they have made a big commitment to the American Cancer Society's Determination program.

The next session will begin Saturday, December 18th. Information sessions will be held at the OhioHealth Westerville Campus on December 13th and 15th at 7pm.

When we started Cap City we had a vision for creating a world class event in this world class city. That said, it is a huge testament to our community that in just 8 years we have built a truly regional event with over $5 Million annually in visitor spending, the booking of almost 750 hotel room nights and a celebration party for 15,000 participants and their families.

Cap City has a huge competitive advantage over other events as Columbus, Ohio is a vibrant city with a tremendous running and walking community and a Mayor and City leaders committed to the active healthy lifestyle.

Our pre race health and fitness party takes place on May 5th and 6th in downtown Columbus. The party is located next door to the Hyatt. The Hyatt is world class hotel on the edge of the Arena District and walking distance from the start and finish line. We have been able to secure a block of rooms, however they are going quickly. For those more than 2000 of you that are coming from out of state, make sure you book your room soon.

Columbus is truly a Champion City. Have you been to Columbus recently? The race course starts and finishes in the vibrant Arena District. You tour the "high five miles" that connect countless experiences on Columbus' historic High Street. An essential part of the Columbus experience, the city's distinctive districts are full of fun things to see and our course highlights all of them.

We are going to be highlighting various areas and activities you can see and experience on your visit to Columbus on our travel page and on Facebook.

The M3S Holiday Party for all of our participants and the running and walking community is next Thursday, December 16th and is hosted by 343 Front Street and Michelob Ultra. We will have a DJ, a free Mich Ultra and food buffet for all of you, cool give aways like Free Cap City VIP credentials, a TV, a Mich Ultra Mountain Bike, gift cards from Bostons, 343 Front Street and much more. Everyone in the running and walking community is invited to join us. We are even going to have a Fashion/Fitness show of new running and walking apparel. This will be a holiday party in true M3S Style. Admission to the party is FREE, you are my guest. However, we have to limit admission to the first 500 of you that sign up. Registration is open but is now 80% full. Happy Holidays!

The tour continues with these great events:

The Holiday Classic 4 Miler at Sharon Woods Metro Park - December 12th.

The Race Without A Race - December 16th.

The First on the First 5k Celebration and Pig Roast at Ohio Health - January 1.

All race information can be found on the M3S Celebration Tour Site.

UPCOMING M3S SIGNATURE EVENT - The Arizona Distance Classic Half and Quarter Marathon - March 27th. In just 7 years, this has become the ultimate spring break destination event. Stay at the Hilton El Conquistador and get a free VIP Upgrade.

Our entire team and all of our partners are excited for the 8th Anniversary of the Capital City Half Marathon and I invite you and your family to come join us in the spring.

David