Clara Grandt Santucci Set To Compete In 2016 US Olympic Trials

Back in December last year, I wrote this post about fellow West Virginia native Clara Grandt Santucci. I felt like it was worthwhile to write another post and share the video below that was produced by Pikewood Creative in Morgantown, because Clara's story is one that all of us from the hills of West Virginia can be proud of. We need to be sharing these good stories more often in our world, and it has been encouraging to see my hometown TV station WTAP share a two part series about Clara as well.



Saturday, February 13 at 1:22PM EST, Clara will be running with 200 top marathon competitors in the 2016 US Olympic Trials, and this race will be broadcast on NBC, and personally, I'm incredibly excited and hopeful for her. From what I know of her, she is an very humble lady who is extremely dedicated to bringing her best to all that she does. She is a woman of deep faith and commitment, and she has been fiercely training and persevering toward this long term goal for the last four years.

Jamie and I have been sharing her story with everyone we know and encouraging them to tune in for the race on Saturday. Jamie can remember running track in high school against Clara (they went to different schools), and Jamie said, "Everybody knew that Clara would win the races in which she competed, and it didn't matter what school you went to, everybody wanted to see her win too--she was just that kind of person--even at a young age."

I want to encourage you to tune in and cheer her on Saturday afternoon, and if you live near the site of the marathon trials in Los Angeles, whether you are a native West Virginian or not (but especially if you are a West Virginian), get out there and cheer Clara on toward her Olympic dream!

Let's go Clara!!! You have already made us incredibly proud, but keep going!!!

Help Clara Grandt Santucci Make WV Proud!!!

This morning, thanks to a social media post from Tony Caridi, Jamie and I learned about the video at the top of this post that was created by Pikewood Creative. The video tells the story of one of Jamie's coworkers, an incredible West Virginian named Clara Grandt Santucci. Clara grew up in Doddridge County, and Jamie can remember running against her in middle school and high school--in some ways they have been connected to each other for most of their lives. But I would say that their friendship has blossomed during the time they have worked together at Healthworks. I've had the distinct blessing of being able to connect with Clara a handful of times, and probably the thing that has stood out most to me is her humility.

For the last two years, she has WON the Pittsburgh Marathon (which is pretty cool because she's also a pretty big Pirates fan). She competed against some of the best in the world during that race and she came out on top. She's humble, but she is also tenacious. And personally those are two of my favorite qualities in any human being. I enjoy stories of people who are genuine, authentic, and relentless as well, and from all I can gather Clara is very bit those things. To me, she embodies some of the best character qualities of people from our state, and she is as committed to her faith as she is to training as an elite athlete.

She has created a Go Fund Me page to raise funds to help her get to the Olympic Trials this year so she can compete in the 2016 Olympic games for Team USA. A law office in the southern part of our state has committed to matching every contribution up to $2,500 to get help her get there. Personally, I know Jamie and I are going to help at some level, but we just need to determine the amount. When I watched her video earlier, I was inspired, and it thrills me to know that one of our fellow Mountaineers will be able to represent our great state on a global stage once she finishes in the top three runners during the 2016 Olympic Games.

Will you help spread the word about Clara and her quest to represent West Virginia and the United States of America in the Olympics? Thanks so much!

And Clara, we will all be cheering you on back here in Almost Heaven! Make us proud!!!

Rousing Words

Rousing Words, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

Saturday, I went to the UCLA game with my dad and brother in law. For the last two years, my dad and I have made a habit of sitting in the student section and enjoying the home games together. As my degree comes to an end, this will probably be one of the benefits I miss the most.

Before the game though, I was thoroughly impressed. Coach John Beilein came over to the student section and shared his heart with the students. He encouraged students to be supportive and cheer loudly, but not to indulge in some of the disrespectful cheers and behaviors of a few students that had emerged over the last few home games. He told the students that they were smarter than some of the phrases that were coming out of their mouths, and to consider the fact that somebody's grandma was over in another section, and another person's little sister was on the other side of the colisseum. He also shared the fact that we would be on national television, and it might affect future appearances if we don't show the nation today that we are a class act.

I appreciated his words. Sometimes folks get a little wound up, and say/do some things that are inappropriate, and I can't think of a more eloquent and respectul way to communicate with the students than the way Coach Beilein went about it. He's a class act through and through, and I really appreciate what he has done for the reputation of the university, the team, and the fans.