Braatzy's Thoughts

Today was a special day. I was lucky enough to be asked to participate in a 10 km race that had a lot of meaning behind it. The MADD dash is a 10 km and 5km timed run in support of the fight against impaired driving.

On this day we were running for a very amazing person, who I have known for about a year. Jessica was the victim of a horrible accident that involved a drunk driver last Spring. When I was given the opportunity to run in the MADD dash for Team Jessica I was very excited.

We had a team of about 17 people who were all involved because of how much Jessica meant to everyone. Our team raised over $2500, with our Team Captain Karen raising $1500 herself.

I would like to thank Max Keeping, Avedis and my parents for contributing to this amazing cause and supporting Jessica!

We all went out for breakfast afterwards and I was lucky enough to meet all of Jessica's friends. They were all very nice and we had a very interesting conversation about baseballs....

When I look at everyone who was involved today, I start to wonder why more people don't get involved with causes like this. I look at it as an opportunity. An opportunity to support amazing people that you care about and make a difference in this big old world.

Nothing beats the feeling associated with giving back; be it MADD Dash, Cycling across Canada with Typically Canadian (www.typicallycanadian.com) or donating what you can to something you believe in.

Nothing makes me happier then helping others and making people smile. It is an addiction I am proud to say I have and I would peer pressure anyone to try this natural drug!

To those who read this, my contact information can be found at http://netgen.ca/company/team/.>

Please contact me if you have opportunities for me to be involved and feed my addiction!  I will always do whatever I can to help!

Race notes:
-I was able to complete the 10 km run in 41 mins and 57 seconds. 1st for my age group
-Jon Murray completed his first 10 km race and accomplished his individual time goal