Great news - Wakeboard for Balls!
It is now official that my (now our) next initiative toward reaching the £4219.5/42.195kr will be called ‘Wakeboard for Balls’ and will take place in the Copenhagen Cablepark on July 29th. This was first announced in an article printed on May 21st. in the Danish national newspaper Berlingske, in which I featured with my Running for Balls campaign as a warm up for the Copenhagen marathon.
Read the full article here.
As of now we are still very much in the planning phase, but we are very excited about having this event ahead of us, and we are very much looking forward to a great day in the sun with lots of nice people, cold drinks, music and a lot of wakeboarding – all the while saving balls! Now, how easy can it be to do something good?
But what is wakeboarding? Wakeboarding is the latest high speed action sport to take over the world. It is predominately practised behind a purpose-built speedboat, but the cheaper and less demanding alternative ‘cable wakeboarding’ has grown into a discipline in itself. Cable wakeboarding is simply wakeboarding while being pulled not by a boat, but by an overhead cable ski system. Kind of like a mixture between kitesurfing, waterskiing and snowboarding. See this video to get a better idea.
Please keep following us on www.wakeboardforballs.com
![Running for Balls in Marathon Magasinet! [in danish only - sorry!]If you haven’t already bought the all new 164 page magazine, then make sure to do so if you read Danish and are into running. It’s full of great articles including a special on Running for Balls.
Read it here - and check out Marathon Magasinet.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmhcjlUCbl1qf8m10o1_500.png)
Running for Balls in Marathon Magasinet! [in danish only - sorry!]
If you haven’t already bought the all new 164 page magazine, then make sure to do so if you read Danish and are into running. It’s full of great articles including a special on Running for Balls.
Read it here - and check out Marathon Magasinet.
Chaos in Paris - yeah! …There is a more detailed report from my run in Paris in the latest issue of Løbemagasinet (#24) (the Danish equivalent to Runner’s World) - check it out!
www.lobemagasinet.dk - and read the full article here
JESPER FAURSCHOU RUNS FOR BALLS!
A week after my run in Paris, on April 17th, the Danish champion runner Jesper Faurschou ran a great time of 02:16:15 in the Virgin London Marathon.
I met him the day after for a walk in Hampstead Heath and a talk about Running for Balls (impressive that he could actually manage to go for a walk!)… Jesper liked my project and have been kind to show his support:
“I would like to show my support to Jonas and his Running for Balls campaign. I think it is a great cause, and as I also take on big challenges and set high goals for myself, I know how important it is to be supported by my peers while in the process. I therefore give him my support and hope that you will do the same by ‘liking’ it or by making a small donation.
Keep running! -and never give up!”
- Jesper Faurschou
Congratulations with your great time Jesper, and thank you for your support! Hope to see you at the Olympic Games here in London and at the World Championship in South Korea - good luck!
DONE. (with the marathon)
I am now back in London after a great weekend in Paris. It was all very intense, and as my schedule was tight I haven’t had the chance to update the site before now.
The run went really well on Sunday. I ran the 42.195km in 3:24, which, taking everything into consideration, I can only be satisfied with. Yes, it was a great success, but there is no good story without a true drama!
It was quite a tough run compared to the Berlin marathon I ran in 2009. My plans didn’t go exactly as I had hoped, and it seemed as if Paris didn’t want to do as I did (not specifically regarding the run, but in general). After a lot of constant practical difficulties, from Friday to Sunday, I literally ran into my startzone at the very moment the marathon starting shot was fired. This meant that I didn’t get 100% ready, and I had to run with no vaseline (petroleum jelly), only two safety pins for my runner number, and at around 25km I found out that I had forgotten one of my three energy gels (meaning that I couldn’t keep the pace)! All small things, but all important when everything has to be just right.
At first I thought it would be optimistic to try to reach my old PB (3:22), but then at the end of my training I felt that maybe I could try to run even faster. I now know that if I ever want to do that, then I will have to start training earlier than in the very last minute (12 weeks before)! This was the case both in Berlin and in Paris, hence just the two-minute time difference.
So after a long struggle to get everything in check, and despite still not getting it all ready, I succeeded in the end! And although I had a tiny dream of breaking my PB the time was not too bad. No injuries, great weather, beautiful city, and most importantly a great feeling of doing something right – which to me was definitely the most important.
I will get back to you with more about what’s coming up, as I continue the fundraising marathon (£1/1kr. for every metre of a marathon: £4,219.50 / 4,219.50kr).
Let reaching this milestone be a first step towards seriously saving balls.
Thank you (and a special thanks to Rune Noël for helping with photos and shelter).
//Jonas.
Great! Running for Balls has been featured in this months Running Free Magazine.
Check it out here - it’s not a lot, but every little helps :-)
Thank you Rune Nöel and Sarah Borup for the contribution of providing this beautiful space! Other than just being a beautiful flat in Paris, then it is really a great help for the project (and my pocket)… Je vous remercie beaucoup, chers amis!
LATE, BUT GOOD NEWS - A FIRST WIN!!!
On Sunday 13. March I ran the British Heart Foundation’s Regent’s Park 10k run - and won it! (sorry for the late news - have been waiting for photos).
I was first across the starting line and first across the finish. Although at 4km I was overtaken by a guy running insanely fast, it was pretty demotivating, I thought that was it, my win gone. But then I found out that he was running the 5km, a different race! This brought me back up to my usual motivation until… I made a wrong turn! Damn! Now, really shattered, the guy behind me passed me. I had to kick myself up the butt and finally passed him before the finishing line at 0:37.
I wouldn’t consider myself a competitive guy, I usually just run on my own, do my best and try to ignore the other runners around me. Although It was a great experience to actually win- but I guess a lot of the really good runners were at this other event going on at the same time in South London :-)
A few weeks later, April 1st, I ran the Waltham Forest Borough half marathon, which wasn’t quite as good of an experience. It turned out there wasn’t a forest at all, but instead, a load of streetlights to stop at and many pedestrians to pass by. A lot of the runners got lost on the way as it became more of an orienteering run than an actual race… Anyway- it was all good for my training and I got an okay time- 1:30 (with two wrong turns).
Now I am getting closer to the big day for the run in Paris, I certainly feel as though I am in a transition phase from an intensive finish momentum and a feeling that I’ve already done the run (although I haven’t). I guess it is sort of a “calm before the storm”, and having been through the toughest part of my training, I have time to sit back and look at my fundraising efforts, and what’s to come after April 10th.
So I’ve decided to CONTINUE THE FUNDRAISING until I have reached my goal of 10p/1kr for every meter I run (£4219.50 / 42.195,00kr).
All this means I will be doing more things after the marathon. I haven’t decided exactly what this will be but there is a great chance I will run again in the Autumn. Please feel welcome to get in contact if you have any ideas.
Furthermore, this allows for THE TATTOO EXPERIMENT TO CONTINUE for longer. I am still going to do it, under the same conditions. However, the deadline will align with the fundraising goal being reached rather than with the marathon on the 10th. The experiment has a lot of potential and I’d like to work with it a bit more and see how far it can go.
I will be back very soon with more details of my future endeavours, but I want to THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUPPORT I’ve received so far. Having you all in my thoughts will help me through when I’m struggling towards the 30k on Sunday.
To finish up, I would like to share this quote from Earl Nightingale.
“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfilment.”
PARIS HERE I COME!
I have recently had the great honour of having 7 MA Applied Imagination students from Central Saint Martins help me with the ‘Running for Balls’ campaign for one of their school projects.
It was such a pleasure to meet them and be able to come up with great ideas and initiatives through the process. We covered a lot of ground; from constructive and useful recommendations for the campaign, to being very hands-on and creating an event in East London’s Broadway Market.
One of the reoccurring ideas put on the table was to change the colour of the logo from dark red to a refreshing light blue. The main reason for this was that it reflects the light blue ribbon that represents male cancer.
Thanks a lot for your help and motivation; everybody did such a great job in contributing and finding new ideas and approaches to this campaign. Best of luck with the rest of your studies!
Find more photos here.
I am glad to announce that Running for Balls has partnered with Oure International College of Sport & Performance who have agreed to double the amount raised so far.
As a sign of appreciation, I will go to Oure and do a talk about Running for Balls and the motivations behind the initiative, after the marathon.
Oure International College of Sport & Performance was founded in 1987. At present it consists of a continuation school, an upper secondary school and a folk high school. Altogether, there are about 850 students and 180 employees in an exceptional, modern and dynamic learning environment. - www.oure.dk
Many thanks to Oure Sport & Performance for this great contribution!
Ebbe Sand likes Running for Balls! -you can too!
“I myself have had cancer, so I know what it means to have a life-threatening disease. I also know that testicular cancer is a big challenge for us as a society to overcome. It is therefore crucial that initiatives like Running for Balls are being supported. Because Running for Balls exists, more research is being done on testicular- and prostate cancer, which leads to more accurately diagnosing and more effective treatment of incidents - and I therefore give Jonas my full support in taking on this challenge.”
“Please help him with this by making a donation to the Running for Balls campaign.”
Great! There is an article about Running for Balls in the latest issue of Løbemagasinet (the Danish equivalent to Runner’s World) - check it out!
www.lobemagasinet.dk - and read the full article here.
Last weekend I ran the Action Duchenne 10k Love Run in Finsbury Park London as part of my training for the marathon, and to get an idea of what level I am currently on.
I must admit that I was a bit late at getting started with my training, as I have had a lot of things to take care of at the same time as doing this project (including two house moves, work and school). So I only just got started in the very last minute, giving me the minimum (in my opinion) of 12 weeks’ training up until the run. From couch to marathon in 12 weeks: sounds like something you could find in a book store. Anyway - I managed to run the 10k in 39:53 minutes and came in as number 17 (chipped time). The course was 4 laps with slight inclines but it was difficult to overtake people on the 2nd and 3rd laps due to the narrow nature and the approximately 1000 other runners.
So, taking everything into consideration, I am happy with my current status and I feel I am making good progress.
It was great to participate in a running event like this, supporting two causes in the same time. Now I only need to give the fundraising part of my project the same momentum!
Thanks to Kristian Kruse for helping out with the photos.
//Jonas.
[IN DANISH ONLY - SORRY]
DR, 21 Søndag, 20. feb. 2011:
“Udgifterne til at behandle patienter med kræft vokser i øjeblikket dobbelt så hurtigt som udgifterne til andre sygdomme. Det presser økonomien i sundhedsvæsenet.”
DR Nyheder sætter de næste fjorten dage fokus på det pressede sundhedsvæsen i Danmark. Interessante spørgsmål rejses ift. hvordan vi fremover skal behandle kræftpatienter, når vi nu står overfor en økonomisk udfordrende fremtid.
Find tilhørende artikel og debat her.
