The good guys thread

[kuhio98]

Man running 100 races in 52 weeks to raise money for Alzheimer's

SAGINAW, MI - A local man is attempting to run 100 races in 52 weeks. It's a goal not many runners could accomplish, but Brad Kloha is taking that challenge.

Kloha started his charity Run to Remember last year to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's disease. Now he is heading back to Mid-Michigan for the final stretch and that includes Midland's Dow weekend of races.

Kloha will run races number 92 and 93 at the Dow weekend of races in Midland. Most of the races he does are obstacle races which include carrying weights, climbing over walls and crawling through the mud.

He's putting his body through so much exhaustion for a cause that has affected his life and many others.

"I think probably most people would think I'm crazy, that's probably the word I've heard the most throughout this," Kloha said.

Kloha is putting his body through the rigors for the health of others, both raising money and awareness for Alzheimer's disease.

"Alzheimer's disease is one of the top six killers in America and it's the only one without a cure, and it's the only one that's not preventable, and it's the only one that can't be slowed, and it's only going to get worse. So we need to do something about it now," Kloha said.

He has been doing something about it, with his great-grandmother and his grandmother, who both suffered through the disease, as his inspiration. He even wears a picture of him and his grandma on his sleeve to help get him through.

"It's shown its damage. It's been through the mud. It's been through barbed wire. It's a constant reminder of why I do it. It's a constant reminder of what she went through and what my family went through and what those millions of families who are affected by the disease, what they're going through now. So whenever I'm feeling that pain or exhaustion during a race, I can just look down at that picture and remember her and remember what her and my family went through, and then I can get through the race," he said.

Kloha's had to get through a lot, even ending up in the emergency room following his seventh race of his 100 race journey.

"The doctors said 'you know what, you just need to stop what you're doing.' And I said 'woah, we need a different plan because I have 93 races to go," Kloha said.

Now 87 races in he has just 13 more to go, with the pain of each race only serving as a reminder of why he's doing this in the first place.

"Knowing that there are families out there going through a lot more emotionally, and physically, and people who have had the disease, what they're going through. Any sickness, any minor injury it didn't matter," Kloha said.

His 100th race will be June 15 in Mount Pleasant. So far Kloha has raised a little more than $20,000 for Alzheimer's Association. If you want to support the cause you can go to his foundation's website runtorember.net to donate.
http://www.wnem.com/story/25403535/l...lipId=10110213

[kuhio98]

Dog Drifting at Sea on Log Rescued by New Zealand Navy



Last week, Tiny the dog found himself in big trouble.

The Royal New Zealand Navy rescued the small pooch from a log drifting out to sea on Thursday.

According to the New Zealand Herald, crew from the Inshore Patrol Vessel HMNZS Hawea spotted the distressed pup standing on floating driftwood in Smokehouse Bay, Great Barrier Island.

An inflatable boat with four crew members onboard retrieved the dog, and he was taken ashore, where the sailors found someone who knew his owner, said Lieutenant Anthony Norris.

The Sunday Star Times reports the pup's name is Tiny and that he's a sea dog owned by 20-year-old Ben Ngawaka, who works in the crayfishing business. The pair were headed to Great Barrier Island's Port Fitzroy when Tiny jumped onto a log that Ngawaka had stopped to examine.

"I was going into Fitzroy to get some supplies – I just carried on and thought I'd pick him up on the way home," he said. Before Ngawaka could do that, the Navy had spotted the 8-year-old dog and suspected he was washed out to sea during an intense storm earlier in the week.

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Ngawaka described the cattle dog mix as "pretty quiet," and added that the ordeal – and subsequent media attention – hadn't change him much: "He's still the same. He just got a feed and that was it."