Friday, August 27, 2010

Marathon Article


As I crossed the finish line of the Friendly Massey Marathon, I was asked, "How do you feel?" In between dry heaves, I muttered something about having raised $1350 for Haiti and next thing I knew I had a reporter asking me questions and taking pictures.

It was for a small town paper, but I was very thankful for the reporter's enthusiastic response to my fundraising and dare2dream journey, in general.  I just received a copy of the article and would love to share it with you:


Here is the article, by Craig Gilbert of the Mid-North Monitor...
with post links (PURPLE) and my notes/corrections (RED): 

A box of Reese Puffs cereal made Toronto's Timmy Boyle run the Friendly Massey Marathon.  No, it wasn't because he was afraid they would go straight to his thighs.  The professional comedian, motivational speaker and father of three, saw a list of cool things you should do on a box of sugary cereal one day in January, and found he had only done two of them.  So he made his own list of things to accomplish before his 37th birthday, which is today, Wednesday July 21. *The date the article ran
[My List]

"I've been training ever since", the self-professed procrastinator said after basically collapsing across the finish line on Government Road, almost exactly five hours after starting. "If I hadn't set a deadline, I never would have done it."
[The Final Results]

"I saw one of my comedy idols, Bob Newhart, before he passed. *To my knowledge, Bob is not dead yet.  It should have read "I wanted to see Bob Newhart before he died...and I did"
[My Bob Newhart Experience]

That was the first dream I guess, before I made the list.  It took that Reese box to push me over the edge."
[My Dreamin' Begins]

He calls the adventure Dare2Dream, and has raised almost $2,000 (now over $2,500) for Haitian relief through it.  Raising a total of $10,000 is dream #11 on the list.
[My Fundraising Video w/Alyssa Milano]

The funds will go to Stillerstrong, a charity launched by actor and comedian Ben Stiller, which is building schools in the earthquake-ravaged island nation.  The name is a play on famed American cyclist Lance Armstrong's Livestrong brand.

Boyle was actually already involved in raising interest for child sponsorship in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the natural disaster hit. *True  He had organized an entire comedy tour aimed at raising funds and awareness for World Vision. *Not true.  Although I have worked with World Vision, the referenced tour, on which I performed, was organized by comedian Leland Klassen and was sponsored by New Missions - a relief organization on the ground in Haiti for over 25 years.

"But, I did no planning before I made the list," he said..  "This was the only marathon I had a shot at.  It was the farthest away (to allow time to train) and the closest to my birthday.  So we came to Massey."

He had only been training for a few weeks, and didn't have a steady running routine established, which is recommended when training for a marathon. *Partially true.  I started running in February, but had slowed my pace down dramatically in the weeks prior to the race, due to a bad knee.

"When I got back there (he points to the start-finish line, which was the half-way point for the full marathon, two laps around the course) at 21 kilometres, I felt good, but then I thought 'Aw man, I have to do this again?'", he said.  "Then I hit a wall at 28 km; 21 km was the farthest I had ever gone in my training. *After confirming the length of the beach boardwalk, I have discovered the farthest I'd ever run was actually only 18 km.  That's crazy.
[My Training Problems]

His wingman, brother-in-law Dan Quigg, kept him going through his training and through the marathon itself.  "I had to slow down my training after I hurt my knee," he said.  "I was going to postpone the marathon because that's my default (to quit when any easy out appears), but he (Dan) kept training after going through some stuff.  So I said, "I gotta keep doing this.  His sick run is my healthy run."

"There were people twice my age ahead of me out there.  The respect I have for them now is incredible.  Bungee jumping was the scariest thing I've ever done, but this was the hardest."

Running the marathon is the fourth accomplishment on his list.  He had previously gone Skydiving, Bungee jumping and conquering ("attacking" is a more applicable term) his greatest fear, claustrophobia.
[My Bungee Jump] [My Sky Dive] [My Greatest Fear]

Sitting on the grass in front of S. Geiger Public School and barely able to move, he breathes to his wife, Heidi, that he is glad she's there to drive back to the Big Smoke.  *I was glad she was there, but she doesn't have a license...so she wasn't getting behind the wheel anytime soon 

His sister, Michelle Quigg, was videotaping for his blog. *Complete Video & Pics to come

"I wouldn't be able to accomplish any of these dreams without (my wife)." 
[My Supportive Wife]

Other goals on the list include performing live on The Late Show with David Letterman, having lunch with Stiller (his comedic idol), learning to drive a 1,000 cc Yamaha street bike, becoming a contestant on Survivor, dancing with Ellen Degeneres and visting Sweden.
[My Invitation to Stiller] [My Survivor Audition] [My Ellen Vid] [The Yamaha Vid]

To learn more about Boyle, Dare2Dream and his brand of clean, inspirational comedy, visit http://www.upstandingcomedy.ca/ and click Dare2Dream at the top of the page.

"This dare to dream thing has already changed me, I have driven through walls," (Not literally) he said, "But to have it affect my kids too?  My 12-year-old daughter came Bungee jumping with me.  I wouldn't have done that when I was 12.  The more I accomplish, the more I affect other people.  So, if there's something you want to do, go do it.  You'll never regret it."

*THE END*

Thanks to the Friendly Massey Marathon for an amazing experience and to Craig Gilbert for taking the time to report about it. 

The deadline has passed, but the dreamin' continues.

Dare2Dream,
Timmy

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Raising $10,000 for Stillerstrong

Dream #11:  Raise $10,000 for Stillerstrong.

Why $10,000?  Because it's low enough to be reasonably achieveable and high enough to make it "dream" worthy. 

On May 1st, I hosted a night of comedy & inspiration called "Seriously Funny", at which I performed my stand-up comedy, spoke about the Dare2Dream adventure and "attacked my greatest fear" (Dream #8).  The evening raised $555 for Stillerstrong.

On July 18th, I successfully ran my first marathon (Dream #9).  It was an awesome mental & physical challenge but it also, due to many generous dreamers, raised $1875 to builds schools in Haiti.

On July 24th, I had the immense privilege of hosting Dr. Dale's Comedy Magic Show.  I was surprised and very grateful to see Dr. Dale had put a small donation box at the back of the room, in support of my dream to help children in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.  Not sure what to expect, I was thrilled to find $33 had been given.  Every little bit counts!  

To date I am proud to say that $2,463 total has been raised.  And, although the "deadline" for my Dare2Dream adventure technically passed almost 2 weeks ago, the dreamin' continues!  You see, there is no such thing as a deadline for dreams and...the work in Haiti is far from over.

So, with 3/4 of the goal still to be reached, I've begun brainstorming other ideas to fulfill this dream.

Idea #1:  Create the most amazing fundraising video...ever!

Well, by merging the heart of Stiller's campaign (Stealing great ideas) and the heart of Alyssa Milano (The queen of Twitter & humanitarian efforts)...I have done just that.

Enjoy, and pass it on.  Thanks....from me and the kids in Haiti.



Of course if the video doesn't work...we move on.

Idea #2:  Bake sale.


Dare2Dream,
Timmy