I saw this documentary awhile back and thought you all might enjoy it!

So on a recent flight to DC, I sat next to a slightly intoxicated guy named Bob who chatted my ear off but kept me laughing much of the flight. He was traveling with a bunch of co-workers (who were also very aware that it was Friday!) who had just spent the week in SF on a business trip and who had all just listened to Timmy O’neil (Patagonia athlete) speak. These guys were totally fired up about everything, including my trip to Jamaica. Anyway, over the course of the flight I got a dissertation about corporate giving and Bob proceeded to give me a $100 bill and told me to pay it forward…(AWESOME!)

I carried around this $100 bill for awhile, waiting for the right person and the right moment…

I chose to pay the $100 forward to a guy named Grant. Grant is a farmer in Jamaica who (along with Andy of the Fat Tyre Festival) has created a seriously awesome downhill track. Grant doesn’t ride bikes, I don’t think he ever has but he uses the trail day in and day out as a walking trail and keeps it awesome for us bikers.

One of my favorite days of my trip was riding his trail down (20+ min) down to a black sand beach where he and his family and friends prepared the best meal in Jamaica. The special thing about this spot is that it is at a remote black sand beach….no buildings, the only way to get there is by boat, biking, hiking or donkey. Grant treated us like family in every sense of the word and for that, I am so thankful.

So I’ve got another cool event for you all…this time it’s for the whole family. On MARCH 14TH I will be attending the San Francisco premiere of ESPN’s Right to Play. Right to Play is an incredible organization that uses sport & play to better the lives of children around the world. Sport & play have changed my life for the better in an infinite number of ways…let’s pay it forward!

I have a put together a great package- Specialized Myka HT, gear, kit, and a day of coaching- that will be auctioned off during the night to raise money for a great cause. I am sure that there will be a lot of other great packages too. You will even get to listen to one of my childhood heroes, Summer Sanders speak…(I used to have pictures of her and Janet Evans on my wall with gold medals= awesome).

Mark those calenders…MARCH 14TH at The Vogue Theater in San Francisco.

Hope to see you there.

Interested in learning more about Right to Play? Can’t attend but want to donate?

Here are some photos I never posted from the IMG NYC Marathon on behalf of Right to Play back in November!

I wrote about it after I raced but never posted anything…here is a little piece of it…

One of the most incredible days of my life! I was just running in awe the whole day. We started at the south end of the Staten Island bridge, ran through all 5 boroughs, finally ending in Central Park on Manhattan. EPIC.

I have said it before but NYC has really become one of my favorite cities in the world…I think that the Marathon bumped it up a notch. :) I think the thing that got me was the overwhelming kindness of complete strangers. Here we are in a massive city, no one really knows each other and people are just so nice. I didn’t get why people put their names on their jerseys when we were starting out…I thought that it was a bit weird but as the race got underway I figured it out. Complete strangers spectating the marathon call people by name and say the nicest things to them…”your looking great mary”. It might sound strange reading it here but I was so inspired by it on the run…

Check out the article on Pinkbike from my trip to Jamaica last February!

Photos by: Ian Hylands

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