Athletes for Real Medicine

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Armenian Marathoners Brave Weather to Benefit Real Medicine Foundation

March 31, 2011 in Armenia, Athletes for Real Medicine, Japan by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Published on the Armenian Reporter

Los Angeles, CA – On Sunday March 20th, more than 30 Athletes for Real Medicine braved torrential rains and unseasonably cold temperatures to participate in the L.A. Marathon and raise $22,000 for Real Medicine Foundation, a non-profit organization providing humanitarian aid in disaster and poverty-stricken areas. Four of the marathon runners came from the Armenian community to raise funds specifically for Real Medicine Foundation’s programs in Armenia. Another seven Armenian runners joined “Team Armenia”, participating in Saturday’s Big 5K.

For the rest of this article follow the link to the rest of the article on the Armenian Reporter Website:

http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2011-03-30-marathoners-brave-weather-to-benefit-armenia-japan

RMF Team Armenia


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Real Medicine Foundation To Participate in LA Marathon For Second Year, Portion of Proceeds to Go Directly to Relief Efforts in Japan

March 18, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Disaster Relief, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Los Angeles, CA – March 18, 2011 – Real Medicine Foundation is proud to announce that for the second year, it will be an official charity of the LA Marathon this Sunday March 20th.  Runners from across California have joined Athletes for Real Medicine raising $18,000 so far for the non-profit which provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas.

Some of the funds raised will go directly to Real Medicine Foundation’s relief efforts in Japan. The organization has partnered with JEN (Japanese Emergency Non-profit) to provide food and supplies to emergency shelters. JEN’s motto of “psycho-social care and assistance for self-reliance” is very similar to Real Medicine Foundation’s focus on the person as a whole, providing medical, physical, emotional, economic and social support.

Forty LA Marathon runners have opted to run and fundraise on behalf of Real Medicine Foundation, which operates in 15 countries throughout the world, including at home in Los Angeles, serving more than 6 million people a year. Donations of any size are accepted, and donors may earmark funds to be dedicated to specific projects, including relief efforts in Japan.

Dr. Martina Fuchs, founder and CEO of Real Medicine was honored earlier this year with Lifetime’s Remarkable Women recognition.  Fuchs says, “We are thrilled to be included in the LA Marathon again this year.  With every step these runners take, they are bringing people around the world closer to complete health. If that’s not a great reason to run, what is?”

Real Medicine has received considerable support from the community, including Fox Entertainment Group’s FoxGives, CAA, Environment Charter High School of Lawndale, and Comfort Chiropractic of Monterey Park. Sole Runners Long Beach has runners dedicated to Real Medicine as well.

Lisa Suen, who oversees Real Medicine’s Creative Development, says, “The support we are receiving in the LA Marathon will allow us to continue battling malnutrition, providing screening tests for children, or even just providing the food people need to survive another day, whether in disaster areas like Japan or areas of on-going need such as Haiti and India.  We spend every day promoting health, so to see runners use their extremely strong health to benefit our work is doubly powerful.”

Real Medicine is sponsoring a cheer station at Mile 22 (San Vicente and S. Canyon View Drive) and invites the public to come and show support. The station will feature cheer boards to encourage runners, made by the children who benefit from Real Medicine’s Community Outreach Programs at Florence Western Medical Center in South Los Angeles.

About Real Medicine Foundation: Real Medicine Foundation (www.realmedicinefoundation.org), a 501c3 registered non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, provides humanitarian support to people living in disaster and poverty stricken areas.  RMF believes that “real” medicine is focused on the person as a whole, including medical/physical, emotional, economic and social support.  RMF’s unique approach to humanitarian relief involves partnering with local groups wherever they are to ensure that the clinics and solutions it creates will be sustainable long after the public spotlight has moved on.  Real Medicine’s CEO and Founder Dr. Martina Fuchs was recently honored by Lifetime as one of Lifetime’s Remarkable Women for the work she and her organization have been doing around the world. RMF currently has clinics and projects around the world, including Haiti, Peru, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, the United States, and more.  For complete listings of RMF’s projects, please visit www.realmedicinefoundation.org/our-work.

Runners Helping People – RMF Team Armenia Gears up for the Marathon

March 14, 2011 in Armenia, Athletes for Real Medicine by Jonathan White | Comments closed

By Charles Case

The Real Medicine Foundation’s (RMF) motto of “Friends Helping Friends” is given a new twist by Ossig Tertarian as she prepares to compete in the L.A. Marathon. For her, it’s a case of sons helping mothers in order to help friends in need.

Ossig

A dance instructor of Armenian heritage, Ossig is just days away from the biggest run of her life, the 26.2 miles of the Los Angeles Marathon as part of RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine–Team Armenia. Supporting RMF’s outreach in Armenia is “something dear to my heart,” says Ossig. “If we could save more people, get medical aid to people in Armenia, help even one person, what a difference that would make.” And to make that difference an even more powerful one, Ossig decided that her fourteen-year old son, Vahan, should run the Marathon too, and be side-by-side with her when she reaches the finish line. So just this morning she went onto the RMF website and signed Vahan up to run for Team Armenia.  “We can make a difference together,” she says.

Joining Vahan and Ossig in the Marathon, and in the Big 5K held the day before, will be a score of other runners fielded by RMF, all demonstrating their dedication to the Foundation’s work in Armenia and around the globe.

Ara Messerlian

One of these Athletes for Real Medicine is Ara Messerlian. “The 5K run on behalf of Team Armenia is a great way to be part of a great cause, helping people back home acquire the basic necessities they need to survive,” says Ara.  “I’m also looking forward to the exercise and the team camaraderie. “

For Nora Boghossian, running in the Big 5K, this is an ideal moment to marry many passions. “I’ve been running for a long time. It’s a part of my life. Running for Team Armenia is a perfect match. I love to run. I love to help people. It’s a no brainer.”

Nora Boghossian

Nora gets that extra push to take it across the line with memories of a trip made to Armenia where she witnessed poverty at its most tragic. Nora met a poor family in a rural village with a daughter suffering from cerebral palsy. The child was in clear need of medical attention. Frustrated that she was unable to help the little girl in that moment, Nora was pleased to identify RMF upon her return to the States as a charity working in Armenia that truly delivers its dollars to the people most in need.

Shant Minas

Like Nora, Shant Minas fuels his drive to complete those 26. 2 marathon miles with the thought of helping others.  That’s a long stretch, but with his military background, and his passion to raise money for RMF, Shant is ready and able to go the distance. Long committed to charitable outreach to Armenia, Shant has seen the hard face of Armenian poverty in areas “one hundred years behind the rest of the world.” With so much work to be done, Shant is prepared to finish the race, no matter what it takes. “One way or another I’ll stumble through,” he says with a laugh. “I’m so glad to be helping RMF.”

Ani Manukyan

Ani Manukyan strongly agrees.  She was born in Armenia and upon returning to her birthplace saw up-close the terrible human need that RMF is working to address. Next Saturday she will be participating in the Big 5K. She tells herself that in those moments when life starts to overwhelm her she must remember those who truly suffer and “stay strong” for them. “Stay strong and keep going. That’s what I tell myself when I wake up at 6 a.m. to train. Keep going.”

It’s the mantra for RMF-Armenia’s Team, as they run to help those in need: “Keep going!”

More information about the Athletes for Real Medicine team can be found on it’s Facebook page here or the page on the Real Medicine website page here

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Healing Communities, One Child at a Time: Running for “Charity”

March 7, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Donate, Helping Children, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities, Whole Health by Jonathan White | Comments closed

A touching story from Lisa Suen, member of our Athletes for Real Medicine team, who is in the final stages of fundraising for RMF for the LA Marathon being held on March 20th.

by Lisa Suen

The holiday spirit was in full swing at Real Medicine’s Kids Holiday party at Florence Western Outreach clinic. Despite heavy rain, approximately 50 kids came ready to enjoy the holiday festivities of story-telling, dancing, cookie decorating and wreath making. The party offered a fun-filled morning for the underserved and at-risk children of south Los Angeles.

This is where I met a sweet girl by the name of Charity. She had this beautiful charm and energy about her when she introduced herself to me and volunteered to help me throughout the morning. Imagine that! This child, who the clinic runs its programs for, did not just want to enjoy the festivities, but wanted to help us! So we got busy, decorating her wreath and cookies while also helping to pass out decorations to the other kids. She was an amazing artist, as she decorated her paper wreath with a spectrum of colors. She then carefully decorated her sugar cookies and kindly offered them to me as a gift. I felt touched that this child was so giving and loving despite the environment she is growing up in.

Lisa and Charity at the Holiday Party

When it was about time to wrap up our decoration projects, Charity turned to me and started crying. I asked what was wrong and she said that she knew it was time to go. She said she was having such a good time that she did not ever want to leave and that this is the place she looks forward to all the time. I reassured her that she would have the chance to come back to the clinic in a few weeks for even more fun. I gave her a hug and it broke my heart knowing that this child may not have the luxury of any of the activities we did today back at home.

Charity is the reason I’m running 26.2 miles on March 20th, 2011 and fundraising for Real Medicine Foundation’s Florence and Western Outreach clinic. A program like this can give children like Charity the opportunity for personal and social enrichment which are definitely worth supporting.  After all, we are ONE community and these children are our future. Let’s help Real Medicine heal communities, one child at a time.

Consider this, your donation of…

$30      would provide arts and craft supplies for a project

$60      would provide one health and fitness workshop

$100    would provide sports equipment for 20 children

(or two physical therapy sessions)

Simply go to Lisa’s Crowdrise Fundraiser page to donate

(http://www.crowdrise.com/athletesforrealmedicine/fundraiser/lisasuen)

Thank YOU for your generous support!


Athletes for Real Medicine: 20 mile training run!

March 3, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Events by Jonathan White | Comments closed

Sunday’s run was the most anxiety-provoking run thus far.  Even after all of the crazy hill runs we’ve done, no amount of intensity could’ve prepared us for the thought of running 20 miles.  As with most challenge-related fears, the best way to overcome them is to roll up your shirt sleeves and “tear off the bandaid”–or in this case, lace up your running shoes and start with a slow jog.  Which is exactly what we did.
Our three-man group planned an easy three mile warm-up jog, before settling into our individual paces.  We caught up about the week and shared travel stories as we climbed the mild incline on San Vicente.  As soon as we hit the three mile mark, our group started to spread out.  I turned on my i-pod and was comforted by Al Green, Fleetwood Mac, Thievery Corporation and many more (by the end of the run, I had listened to 41 songs).
After looping down Montana Ave, back towards the ocean, we hopped on the bike path, with seven miles down and thirteen to go.  The bright morning sun warmed our skin.  The waves were choppy and a pod of dolphins played in the water.  I even saw one jump high out of the water to dive back in.  Nearing the turnaround point, I spotted one of the team members running back towards me.  We gave each other high fives and kept on going.
At mile twelve, I realized that I was more than half-way done.  I was comforted by this thought, as I gazed out at the wind-blown sand covering the beach, decorated by ripply patterns that made it look like a mini Saharan desert.  Before I knew it, the Santa Monica pier was behind me, the fifteen mile marker had been passed, and Venice Pier, marking the final turnaround point, was just ahead.
The last four miles whizzed by.  As often happens, I had reached “the zone” and managed to stay there comfortably.  Dodging in and out of crowds along the Venice boardwalk, I slowly closed in on the finish line.  I even picked up my pace when I saw that I was closing in on another distance runner who had passed me a mile before.  After “picking him off”, I ran up the Santa Monica pier and coasted through Palisades Park, until finally reaching the end.
While stretching in the warm sun, I couldn’t help but smile with joy.  The longest training run of the season was over, the big day that we’ve all worked so hard for was just a few weeks away, and our fundraising efforts were adding up.  While the sunshine heated me up on the outside, gratitude and pride radiated from within.

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on

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Athletes for Real Medicine: Recovery Run

February 22, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Donate, Rebuilding Communities, Whole Health by Jonathan White | Comments closed

by Brandi Howell

Last Sunday’s run was a “recovery” run, which in marathon lingo means a 14 mile run instead of an 18 mile one.  Believe it or not, calling it a “recovery” run and shaving a few miles off of it makes it less intimidating and much more enjoyable.

The four of us met at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains at 8:30 am on a clear and breezy day.  The air was clean and cool, following a three day rain storm that blew over just in time for our run.  Stretching at the trail head, we were excited to be running a different route than the usual beach run.  There was also some apprehension in our minds, for although we had a new course ahead of us, we had traded in our flat coastal path for a steep mountainous one.  Warmed up and anxious to tackle the hills, we set out along the muddy trail, chatting and hopping over the puddles.  Within minutes, we were climbing steep, sticky surfaces, surrounded by fragrant trees and wild flowers.  Each of us settled into our own comfortable pace, spreading out from a tight group to a long single-file line, with me bringing up the rear.  We huffed and puffed our way up to several flat stretches, before finally reaching our first plateau, fully equipped with panoramic views.  Here, we stopped for a quick stretch and then pushed on.

As the narrow trail led us higher into the mountains, the terrain started to change.  Trees became brush and flowers were replaced by tall grass and boulders.  As we soared high above the valley and the city, we realized that we were on a ridge, flanked by views of the choppy ocean on one side and snow-capped mountains on the other.  Finally, I spotted our turnaround point in the distance.  The guys had already turned around, and were charging down the mountain towards me.  Although they were tired and enjoying the downhill momentum, I made them stop to take our weekly team picture.  Such is the power of a team captain.  I reached the turnaround point just minutes later and headed down the hill, simply lifting my legs and letting gravity pull me home.

After flying down some switchbacks, admiring a gushing waterfall and descending into the lush valley, we were out of the woods and back at the cars.  Each of us tacked on a few more miles–either back on the trail or on the paved beach path-and by 11 o’clock, we were stretching out our sore legs and dreaming of hot showers and breakfast burritos (well, I definitely was).

Another run down and only a few to go.  I’m already starting to miss our weekend runs and team spirit.  But, I’m looking forward to race day and hearing about everyone’s marathon journey.  It is truly an accomplishment and I’m proud of our mighty little group

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on Facebook

We have also posted a Youtube video of some of our team training and talking about the cause: http://www.youtube.com/user/RealMedFoundation#p/u/0/EH4WOIWIcGc

Athletes for Real Medicine: Last Sunday’s Run Update

February 18, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Helping Children, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities by Jonathan White | Comments closed

RMF CEO, Dr. Martina Fuchs, and some of the Athletes for Real Medicine runners!

‘

Last week’s Sunday run was very challenging-especially for me. It was our second longest run, coming in at 18 miles, but we kept the course fairly flat to make the run more tolerable.

Four of us met bright and early, on a warm Santa Monica morning.  We ran as a pack for the first 4 miles, up San Vicente towards Brentwood. Then our newest member, who we were delighted to have joining us, sped up his pace. Our foursome became a threesome, and we remained together as we ran along the beach. At mile ten, our group got one person smaller, as another one of us picked up his pace. So, we were two and as much as I told my buddy to go ahead, he stayed back with me, dragging me along at a decent pace.

Luckily, the weather was beautiful, the ocean like a painting. I spent most of the run tricking my mind into moving my legs, despite the fatigue.

When we saw the others running towards us, we knew that our last “u-turn” was up ahead.  And we were excited.  This meant that we only had 5 miles to go!

The last four miles were brutally exhausting (for me), but in the end we all survived and with the endorphins kicked in, it felt like we could run another few miles…but, we were happy to sit in the grass and stretch.

We’ve got one more long run before the big day, but no time to lose focus.  I, for one, need to keep disciplined with my weekly speed workouts to build my aerobic capacity.  Otherwise the boys will keep But, I must admit that one of the benefits of being the “caboose” is the onlookers always ask me “what is Real Medicine”, after seeing other shirts pass by ahead.  I love having the honor of explaining what Real Medicine is contributing, and after a brief, breathless explanation, I proudly jog off.

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on Facebook

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Athletes for Real Medicine Fundraising Newsletter #2

February 11, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Los Angeles, North America by Jonathan White | Comments closed

February 11th, 2011

“Driving the Momentum – Mile for Mile, Dollar for Dollar”

Hello Athletes!

I hope your training is going well. We only have 40 days to go before Race Day!

On this newsletter, I wanted to highlight a few questions that have been asked:

  1. “What do I fundraise through?” There has been some confusion with which site to use for fundraising. The LA Marathon is promoting Crowdrise.com as the main medium. Active.com is the default link sent to you when you first signed up. You can use either but Crowdrise does give you some functionality that Active does not. If you have not yet set-up your fundraising page, please do so at Real Medicine’s Crowdrise Team page. Click “Join the Team” to start your own page in which your donations will be attributed to the team’s total page. You can view any team members page to get an idea of the set-up. Contact me if you have any questions.
  1. “How can I get my donors interested in my cause?” It all comes down to YOU and YOUR CAUSE. Let your donors know why you are passionate about running the LA Marathon for Real Medicine Foundation. Let them know that RMF separates itself as a nonprofit organization with 92% of donations going directly to its projects! Unheard of in a lot of organizations nowadays! Not only that, I suggest that you specifically fundraise for one of RMF’s projects in 15+ countries. This allows you to tell a story. We all love stories right? What better way to fundraise when you can bring to life a story of a child in India, Armenia, Peru, Haiti or right here in Los Angeles?! I encourage you to take a look at our blog, which is constantly updated: http://www.realmedicineblog.com/. OR I invite you to go an extra step and create your own story by volunteering at our Florence Western Children’s clinic on 2/19 or 3/5 as we make race day poster boards! More details to come or contact me if interested!
  1. “I’ve sent my initial fundraising email, now what?” If you’ve already sent out your initial email now is a perfect time to follow up if it’s been a couple of weeks. Remember, it takes a few friendly reminders to get a donor’s commitment. People mean well and want to help, we just need to remind them since it may be on the tail-end of their to-do list. So don’t give up!

I hope this Q&A session has helped you kick-start or further your fundraising efforts. Now is the perfect time to drive that momentum! If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Lisa Suen anytime at lisa.suen@realmedicinefoundation.org or Brandi at brandilhowell@gmail.com.

Remember, it is because of you and your support that the Real Medicine Foundation can help so many patients in 15 different countries! Thank YOU for being an Athlete for Real Medicine!

And remember:

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Confucius –

For more information on our website about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or RMF’s official Facebook page.

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Athletes for Real Medicine: LA Marathon Training…Trail running!

February 3, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Los Angeles, North America by Jonathan White | Comments closed

By Brandi Howell

If I had to choose one word to describe Sunday’s training run it would be “ouch”.  Ouch during the run, ouch after the run, ouch still, three days later.  Nonetheless, we had a great time, we were elated once it was over, and we are now one training run closer to the finish line.

Sunday’s run was a grueling fourteen miles, six of which were uphill…2,000 feet uphill.  We started at the base of Temescal Canyon and followed the trail into the Santa Monica Mountains.  We were immediately surrounded by trees, creeks, paths and the sounds of the wild.  Within minutes of setting out, we were climbing steep switchbacks, dodging hikers, breathing hard and feeling the burn in our legs.  We climbed 900 feet for over two miles before getting a break.  When we reached the first plateau, I thought my lungs were going to explode.  Taking a minute to catch our breath and to stretch our already tired legs, we were able to enjoy the panoramic views and cool breeze.  We saw the clouds thickening overhead and realized that the “chances of rain” were more like definite rain.  But, we pushed on and on, covering another three miles and 800 feet of elevation gain.  It started to sprinkle.  The smell of wet dirt and fragrant sage wafted through the air.  We ran through waist-high weeds that whipped and soaked our numb legs.  We finally came to our turn around point.  I thought it would never come or that I would collapse trying to reach it.  The truth is, the guys were much faster than me and I was just feeling wimpy that day.  Running is such a mental game.

Once we headed back down the mountain, I knew I was going to be fine.  We let gravity pull us down, as we swung our arms faster to speed up and widen our stride.  We hopped over boulders, caught ourselves before tripping, and took advantage of the physical ease to guzzle down oxygen.  We came to a familiar fork in the path and turned left instead of right.  This took us around new corners and bends, over a bridge, past a few waterfalls, and down more steep, rocky trails until we eventually saw Sunset Blvd. and our parked cars.  As tired as we were, we took a water and nutrition break and then set out to run another seven miles.

We headed down Temescal Canyon Rd, at the bottom of which we joined the bike path and our usual route.  We ran north until the path ended, then turned around, ran south for a few miles and looped back to the bottom of Temescal.  One more huge hill to conquer.  I later found out that Temescal Canyon Rd is one mile long and climbs 300 feet.  This was a tough way to finish an already intensely difficult run, but we had to get to the top.  When we made it back to our cars, it felt like 8:30 am and our pre-run chat was weeks ago.  We were completely spent, ready to shower, get warm and relax.  We were also very proud of our accomplishment, a little bit closer to one another for having gone through it together and excited that while we could have been sleeping, we were out there making a difference.

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on Facebook

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Athletes for Real Medicine: Sunday’s 15 mile training run!!

January 26, 2011 in Athletes for Real Medicine, Disaster Relief, Events, Helping Children, Los Angeles, North America, Providing Medical Support, Rebuilding Communities, Whole Health by Jonathan White | Comments closed

This week’s Sunday run was intimidating because it was our longest training run yet–15 miles!  Nevertheless, my dedicated teammates were enthusiastic and cheerful when I arrived at 8 a.m.  It was another gorgeous So Cal morning, warming up quickly under a bright white sun in a pale blue sky.  Despite our sleepy eyes, we were in high spirits, joking with each other as we discussed the course.  I had planned two loops and a short “out and back” to make up the mileage.  But the guys suggested we run one huge loop, so that by boring mile 12, we could be entertained by the lively Venice crowd.  And what a great idea that turned out to be!

After setting out North for four miles, we doubled back, leaving the peaceful and desolate wide-open beaches behind us, and heading for the bustling Santa Monica pier and colorful Venice boardwalk.  The three of us stuck together the whole way, helping one another through the tough mental blocks and achy pains, common to endurance runners. We laughed, people-watched and inspired each other from mile one to mile fifteen.  It was one of my favorite runs thus far, because we started the run as a team, we finished as a team and we lifted each other up like teammates do.

Running long distances is humbling because the mind and body experience intense challenges along the way, but sharing the pain and laughter with a community, and running with a purpose, is powerful and moving.  We are thankful for these Sunday runs and excited about the comments and inquiries that our T-shirts have been generating.

Go Team Real Med!!!

For more information about RMF’s Athletes for Real Medicine, click here.

Follow us on Twitter or our Athletes for Real Medicine Facebook page or our Group page on Facebook

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