I decided to run my first marathon at 50

I turned 50 on June 21st and I wanted to do something special to commemorate it.  So I decided I should run a marathon.  Why not?  I'm fat and I hate running - it makes perfect sense.  But like I said, I'm 50 now - I wanted to do something meaningful so I signed up to run the AIDS Marathon in Honolulu this December and I'm training with and raising money for AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA).  I've made it a personal goal to raise $5,000 to help in the fight against AIDS and I've decided to keep a video blog of my progress (and to prove to anyone who pledged money that I am actually out there training for this thing).

Supporting APLA has special meaning to me.  I lost my first wife, Jo-Ann, to AIDS in 1992.  When she was first diagnosed in 1989, I was living a completely different life than the life I have now.  I was working in the aerospace industry in Long Island, I was a Reagan Republican and I had just completed a 6 1/2 year stint in the Army Reserves.  I figured I would live a typical suburban life and move up the company ladder and have a few Republican kids along the way. 
Then Jo-Ann got sick.  Needless to say, a lot of things changed.  I'm not going to go into a lot of details but let's just say my whole perspective on life changed after that.  I took home one lesson - life is short.  You have to do what you want.  I wanted to be an actor (and later a standup comic).  So that's what I became.  And now I live in Los Angeles.  And I'm a liberal.  And I have a wonderful wife, Alisa, who is amazingly supportive of this endeavor.  And as I hit the half-century mark, I guess it's natural to reflect back on the things I've been able to do that Jo-Ann and many others like her never had a chance to do.  So I'm running the AIDS Marathon to celebrate having made it this far and to honor those who never got to pursue their dreams in life.  And I hope you can support me.

Every Saturday, I'm running in Griffith Park with a group of amazing people who are running the AIDS Marathon and raising money in the fight against AIDS.  I made my first video this past Saturday, July 3rd.  I'm new at this so it may be kind of boring - but hey, it proves I was out there.  Hopefully, the blogs will get better.

Here is the link to my AIDS Marathon Home Page if you wish to donate:

And here is my first video: