When most of us decide upon our New Year’s resolutions, they are usually small, personal goals that half of us never end up keeping anyway. I’ll exercise more. Every day, even. I’ll eat less junk food…you know, leave the cheese off my daily double-double. I’m definitely going to try for better grades so I can finish strong 2nd semester. A 2.0 is all you need to graduate, right? Sound familiar?
Economics and Statistics teacher Mr. Tom Rickling set a far loftier goal for himself this year, one he is well on his way to completing: he decided to run 2012 miles over the course of 2012. The idea is to raise money (hopefully at least $10,000) for cancer and Parkinson’s disease research, conditions his mother and father suffer from, respectively. Mr. Rickling broke the 100-mile mark just the other day, and says donations are off to a good start as well.
“This was inspired by my parents: my dad is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and my mother has had cancer for some time and is still undergoing treatment. I wanted to think of a good way to raise money for the research needed to help others like them. Christine Dancy, from the copy room at Cathedral, is actually the one who gave me the idea — she’s done this before,” he said.
Donations will benefit both the Michael J. Fox foundation and the American Cancer Society. According to Mr. Rickling, individuals can choose which foundation their donation will benefit, and can track the donations via a graph on his blog.
This blog, “2012 in 2012,” is where Mr. Rickling keeps followers up to date on his accomplishments. He logs his daily mileage (to complete his goal, he will need to run just under 7 miles a day, with a break every 5 days) and often offers his famous “wisdom,” uplifting thoughts and ideas designed to motivate and inspire.
How will Mr. Rickling go through with the 2012 miles?
“I have an entire support team going,” he said. “So far I have a chiropractor and a masseuse, and my niece is a nutritionist, so she’s helping me maintain the proper diet. A friend of mine from Uni has been helping with my blog, making it way more interesting than it was initially, and I went down to the trainers in the weight room yesterday, and they all offered tips as well. Another of my nieces is in graphic design, so she’s going to help come up with flyers. Her friend is with UPS and is going to get some cheap printing. Slowly but surely, people are stepping up to help.”
He continued, “I haven’t even been really advertising yet, so I think once we really get the word out, we can crush the $10,000 goal. Even if people can’t donate, spreading the word with help just as much.”
Some students have already stepped up to the plate. Senior Shawyan Yazdanmehr posted the following on Facebook: “This isn’t one of your viral ‘post this again’ comments, but if anyone knows Mr. Rickling and the hardships he and his family have gone through, please read this. Today, I just learned that as one of his New Years Resolutions, he plans to run 2012 miles for the year 2012. Personally, there couldn’t be a better resolution. Now here is the catch. He is doing this to raise money for the cause of fighting cancer. As a CCHS community, I believe we need to step up and spread the word and support. Mr. Rickling has two parents that are fighting with cancer, and his optimism and courage to make a difference really inspired me to write this. I’m not an organizer for this, but I am sure he will put out more information on how to donate and help his epic journey to 2012 miles!”
In addition, Senior Catherine Hedrick created a Facebook group called “2012 in 2012,” where students and supporters of Mr. Rickling can post words of encouragement for him and help spread the word. Different donation plans are also laid out for supporters, so they get an idea of how a little a day can make a difference.
Mr. Rickling said, “One thing I would like to add is that you students are always told about all these things you need to do, be, etc. I think that doing something goes about 2012 miles further than just talking about it!”
Mr. Rickling’s blog can be found at http://www.trick2012in2012.blogspot.com/ and the Facebook support group is https://www.facebook.com/groups/237049316370207/.