Next weekend, 10 strong (brave? crazy? clueless?) J15's will be participating in the Dead2Red. This event is a relay race from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. By "relay race" I mean that we are running on foot. By "from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea" I mean that we are stopping at the lowest point on the surface of the Earth and then running uphill for 170 miles until we reach Jordan's only Red Sea port of Aqaba.
We only decided to participate in this event about 10 days ago, so our training may or may not be sufficient, but here's to hoping that we all make it to Aqaba! In the past week and a half I personally have ran on six occasions for a total of 30.1 miles, including 7.2 miles today. Some of the locals think it's rather silly that I run around in the hills behind my village; however, I am fortunate that I am a male, as if I were a female exercising outside I would at best lose much my credibility in the village and at worst lose much of my safety and security.
Why, might you ask, would any of us want to run 17 miles in one night? Did I mention we're running at night? It's still really cold here and gets below freezing most nights, but I live 3800 feet above the Dead Sea and, to answer my second question, apparently it's too hot to run in the daytime down there. To answer my first question: The organizers wouldn't allow us to have a team any greater than 10 runners, so 17 miles per person is the least we can do. Secondly, and more importantly, the J15's are running to raise funds for what I believe to be quite the important project here in Jordan: Camp GLOW.
In a country where males and females are segregated at nearly all times and in nearly all places, from the home to schools to public transportation, Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) offers young ladies from rural Jordan an opportunity unlike any other in the Kingdom. This 5 day camp, held at a local university is an opportunity for promising high school girls to "gain leadership and organizational skills,...become active and successful members of their society,...create positive change in themselves and others,...[and develop their] self-expression, critical thinking and leadership skills." Furthermore, this camp is conducted entirely in English and provides the girls with an opportunity to hone their fluency in English (a prerequisite for college admission).
As I said previously, we are running to raise funds for Camp GLOW. If you are at all interested in donating to support Camp GLOW, I encourage you to click here to read more about Camp GLOW and its history in Jordan. If you do choose to donate, please make sure to write "Craig Smith - J15 Dead2Red" in the comments section.
We only decided to participate in this event about 10 days ago, so our training may or may not be sufficient, but here's to hoping that we all make it to Aqaba! In the past week and a half I personally have ran on six occasions for a total of 30.1 miles, including 7.2 miles today. Some of the locals think it's rather silly that I run around in the hills behind my village; however, I am fortunate that I am a male, as if I were a female exercising outside I would at best lose much my credibility in the village and at worst lose much of my safety and security.
Why, might you ask, would any of us want to run 17 miles in one night? Did I mention we're running at night? It's still really cold here and gets below freezing most nights, but I live 3800 feet above the Dead Sea and, to answer my second question, apparently it's too hot to run in the daytime down there. To answer my first question: The organizers wouldn't allow us to have a team any greater than 10 runners, so 17 miles per person is the least we can do. Secondly, and more importantly, the J15's are running to raise funds for what I believe to be quite the important project here in Jordan: Camp GLOW.
In a country where males and females are segregated at nearly all times and in nearly all places, from the home to schools to public transportation, Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) offers young ladies from rural Jordan an opportunity unlike any other in the Kingdom. This 5 day camp, held at a local university is an opportunity for promising high school girls to "gain leadership and organizational skills,...become active and successful members of their society,...create positive change in themselves and others,...[and develop their] self-expression, critical thinking and leadership skills." Furthermore, this camp is conducted entirely in English and provides the girls with an opportunity to hone their fluency in English (a prerequisite for college admission).
As I said previously, we are running to raise funds for Camp GLOW. If you are at all interested in donating to support Camp GLOW, I encourage you to click here to read more about Camp GLOW and its history in Jordan. If you do choose to donate, please make sure to write "Craig Smith - J15 Dead2Red" in the comments section.
Just a quick update on the Dead2Red Camp Glow fundraiser:
ReplyDeleteWe have committed to raise $1200 as a team. Fortunately we have a local sponsor who is supporting us and has pledged to donate $200 provided that we finish the race. That means that each one of the 10 of us has been asked to raise only $100.
If you are interested in donating, please click below and make sure to please write "Craig Smith - J15 Dead2Red" in the comments section.
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=440-019
Thank you for your support!
As if running 170 miles uphill in the night through the desert wasn't enough. The weather gods have decided to send us a "polar depression" that will bring "snow, hail, and heavy rain" to much of the Kingdom:
ReplyDeletehttp://jordantimes.com/heavy-rain-snow-forecast-for-end-of-week
We did it!
ReplyDeleteCarried by the ten of us, our baton never stopped running for 22 hours and 14 minutes over 242 consecutive kilometers between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
We also met our fund-raising goal!
Thank you so much your support, in all its fashions. I genuinely appreciate it.
Great job, Craig! I'm sorry that I'm just reading about your running now, but I'm glad that you and your team were successful in completing the race. I wish I could have seen you running around the hills in the snow and hail.
DeleteIs it still possible to send a donation for Project GLOW in Jordan?
Hope all is well,
Eric
Ditto to Walle's comment.
DeleteKwak
Thanks guys, I appreciate the support.
DeleteWe got really lucky in terms of weather. 2 meters of snow fell in Amman while we were running, but we were 5000 feet below Amman and the weather was perfect the whole way to the Red Sea.
We were lucky enough to fully fund Camp Glow before we even finished running, so that project is closed now. I'll be sure to post on my blog if there are future fund-raising opportunities.
Check out pictures from the Dead2Red here:
ReplyDeletehttp://craiginjordan.blogspot.com/2012/03/dead2red-pictures.html