One week in!

I am currently staying at the Oak Tree inn right outside of Barstow and I would like to thank them very much for their sponsorship of a reduced rate here. It's been one week since I have started and a lot has happened during that time.
   First day was awesome made it to East LA where I was lucky enough to stay at a church where they brought me a meal which was awesome and I spent tiem talking to missionaries there. Since then I have mostly been sleeping out back of churches. This was the first place I decided to stay at. I have met so many amazing peopel so far. Highlights include a man Mike whom decided to turn around on his motorcycle to come see what I am up to, a woman Danielle who got me a can of fix a flat to help my ites for the road ahead. Another man (did not get his name) gave me a pair of sunglasses after mine broke. Everything even the setbacks have worked out perfectly and it's a blessing that I am where I am right now. I am resting until tomorrow night where I will work my way towards Baker. I had previously talked to the CDOT and NVdot to make sure tat it is ok I go on the interstates which they said was ok so hoping I do not run into any issues. Here I met a guy Scooter who helped me feel better about the road ahead to Baker as he said there are a couple of stop offs I could go to on the way.
  Things I've learned

Strengths 3 Ps
  Patience: It takes a lot of patience to do this especially when things do not go as planned and setbacks arise. Be patient and it will all work out in time.
  People: I could not be in the spot I am without the help, advice, and kindness of people. I am attempting to pay it forward now and gave a woman money for gas today who need3ed it. We all have different strengths and abilities, and need each other to succeed, no matter our own self-reliance.
 Parks: Usually during the middle of my day I'll find a nice park to just sit and relax, maybe read or write. The power of nature and parks has a great resting quality on the spirit and mind.

Also I have continued to learn a lot about gratitude, as I have never been happier about having the ability to get a shower, have a bed, or even just experiencing the kindness of strangers as this journey has taught me.

I will try to be better baout blogging/updating but due to the nature of this run and avoiding the heat of the day it has proven to eb more difficult than thought.

Tomorrow

Made it to LA ok! My good friend Will Smith (not the fresh prince but a dude equally awesome) picked me up and I'm spending the night at his before heading to Santa Monica beach early tomorow to begin this adventure. So far grabbed some food at Bib Boy burger and got some grocries for the trek. Many unknown variables, but in my life I've found that my best success or greatest growth came from jumping into the deepest end of that pool of life possible. Going forward with a positive attitude knowing that I will find a way and make this work. It's been an ongoing dream for 2 years and it starts tomorrow.
   Leading up to this the kindness of strangers continues to amaze me including people who wish to help in any way possible, especially those with whom I have never met. I still believe in the goodness of all people. Game face. Chris. BLR

Donations

Severl people have asked about being able to help out with the run. First and foremost, the main source of help would be to please register as an organ donor if you have not already. http://donatelife.net/. For those who would like to help out with the financing of the actual run we have set up an Indiegogo account.  These funds will go directly to the actual run once I am out there and have started. Anything left over will go directly to Donate Life. http://www.indiegogo.com/brotherlyloverun. 27 days til go time.

Updates/changes. 1 month til flight out

Here to address a number of changes as well as reflect on my experience at the Organ Donor Dash last Sunday in Philly. The Brotherly Love Run will continue as planned, yet I will be the only person going out to Los Angeles and making my way across. This is due to Jaime's personal concerns and abilities, nothing to do with our ability to work together. Here is his post from our Facebook page.  . "Due to personal set backs I, jaime will unfortunately no longer be going on the run we have restructured and I will now be managing the website and assisting Chris through the run." 


 I still plan on doing everything exactly as I had before, but now will be solo. We also have a logo finished and are selling t-shirts for 15 bucks in gray or white shirts as of now, utilizing the logo my good friend Brendan developed for us.

Last weekend Jaime, Brian, and I ran in the Organ Donor Dash. It was a rewarding experience and I stuck with them and then remained with Brian, pushing him along as we finished. It was the first 10k or both Jaime and Brian so it was cool to see their sense of accomplishment after. We had previously done the Organ Donor Dash in the walk portion years ago and was my first time since. Seeing all of the shirts in honor of loved ones still living or have passed on really hit me deep. There was more than a few times I felt that lump in the bottom of my throat while consumed with all of the emotions of the day, and feeling complete empathy for each of these stories of love which united everyone on the day. Here's a pic of ourselves and Jaime's girlfriend Amber.

Think For Yourself Fest

My brother Zach set up a festival with his Independent Political Club to raise money for Leukemia (please visit and donate www.leukemia-research.org) as well as engage the student population towards civic duty. A few good friends of mine, especially my really good friends from home in Our Fair City came to perform. Jaime, Brian, and I were able to set up a table with information about our run as well as have information to get people to register to be organ donors. This was the first opportunity (hopefully of many) that we were able to do this and we got several people to say they would seriously consider registering. Additionally, that night a girl I knew had told me that she had registered because of our run. This was such an awesome feeling to know that in the future we can potentially make a difference in the life of a person. Made me realize much more that success for this can not be measured in minutes, miles completed, states traveled through, but solely on lives changed. Chris BLR

Gratitude

Just wanted to take a second to express our thanks for everyone who has offered help and support so far. In talking with others about our endeavor, it has been more than humbling to see that outpouring and desire of people to offer help and assistance. Even the simplest words of encouragement have been greatly valued by us and we have taken them to heart. There have been a number of people who have gone above and beyond giving a significant amount of time to give us the necessary knowledge we lack, so that we have the best chance of succeeding when we start out there. Rather than list the specific individuals and risk leaving out someone from a temporary lapse in memory, I do want to make it clear that we do remember you all and thank you from the innermost part of our beings. We will definitely continue to need help as our endeavor continues, but we appreciate everything so far, and will continue to do our best so that the help was not in vain. Thank you all. Chris BLR

How it came to be

So Chris comes home from school one weekend at the beginning of his senior year in college. He's stoked on this idea he's had for roughly the past two years about running across the country. This was definitely not the first time I had heard him talking about it, and as time would prove it sure was not the last. He talked to me so much about it that one boring night in our small town of Mullica Hill, New Jersey we both got so hyped up about it we decided to buy our plane tickets out to California. We then decided that since it had, if nothing else, been solidified, to develop the idea. For the past several months and for the months to come we hope to spread the word about the tragedy behind organ donation or the lack there of. With a few simple steps towards become a registered organ donor you can give hope to the 100,000 plus patients currently on the waiting list.Also our message is not limited to just the US we hope to pass it on across the globe with help from our family, friends, and fans.