Chisholm Trail Ultra - Update

Well friends, plans are continuing for our Chisholm Trail Ultra scheduled for the week starting September 15th.

We will be starting at the Texas / Oklahoma boundary on HWY 81 & run north. until we reach Caldwell, KS; just at the Oklahoma / Kansas boundary. It is approximately 233 miles. We will be following (for the most part), the Chisholm Trail & will pass through many small Oklahoma towns. The point is to run a set distance each day & overnight at various places along the route.

The "POINT" is to be a living example of "breaking boundaries" so that others know that with the right mindset & attitude, most any boundary can be broken through.

We have also implemented our 100 100's Fundraiser. Our goal is to get 100 people to donate $100 each. All donations are Tax Deductible as we are a 501 (c) (3) non profit foundation. Go to our website (http://www.knownoboundaries.org) or contact me directly to make a donation.

Additionally, we want to thank 5 Hour Energy Shots for making a "donation in kind" of (2) cases of 5 Hour Energy. Our sincere appreciation for this as WE WILL USE THEM.

Continue to stay tuned here or follow us on Facebook.

Thank you & God Bless;

Ken

14 Year Old Dillon Hicks PRs in his FIRST 5K

14 Year Old Dillon Hicks is our March 2012 Boundary Breaker. Despite Dillon's numerous disabilities, he is a young man FULL of energy. He loves the outdoors & especially loves going for a "run"with either his Hannah or Stacy; his parents. When out with them, he feels as if his limitations have been lifted & is without boundaries.

The first photo is Dillon with his dad; Stacy; in an OLD chair.

The other one are his new "wheels".

Know No Boundaries was able to work with Adaptive Star to get Dillon a new chair, one in which he could not only be comfortable in for some time, but to be out with is family to participate in the numerous runs in which they do.

March 17th was the 30th Saint Patrick's Day 5K held in front of Runner's World Tulsa and Dillon Hicks showed off his new found freedom.

If you were not there, you missed out on quite an event.

Know No Boundaries was be there in full force to be with the Hicks family in support of this big step for Dillon & to see him PR in his first 5K.

(For me as expected, I needed plenty of Kleenex).

Two Down & ??? To Go (Post Oak Challenge Summary)

The first (2) major broken boundaries for 2012 are now in the history books. The 2012 Post Oak Challenge is done - 50K on February 25th & a marathon on February 26th. The weather could not have been better for running & most of the races were full.

(The only real problem was that the poor road took out the radiator of my car - - but that is a different story.)

Before our early start, a few of the Marathon Maniacs posed for a pre-race party pic; yours truly (in green tights) John, Wilma, Lyle & company all in smiles.

After a very short jaunt on the road, we turned off onto some beautiful trails. What started off in a rough pack, soon strung out into more of a single file as we wove (or is it weaved?) through sticks & stones, twigs, branches, roots & rocks. We soon were out into the open country.

The aid stations were AWESOME as were all of the volunteers. They really make it possible for many of us to make it through these events.

Ken Childress & company really got "into the spirit" with the first aid station on the course. (Hmm, got me thinking that I had hair like that at one point. DON'T ASK!)

Coming up to the aid station, Edward & Stormy gave us a warm welcome. One BIG thing was the smell of fresh cooking bacon (courtesy of Susan Westmoreland on the griddle). Too bad I was in & out before & remembered to grab some.  - -  In & then out & back on the trail.

More roots, rocks & branches

After a while, we were back out in the open making our way "over the river & through the woods"; only thing is that Grandmother's house was no where to be seen. Hopefully the Big Bad Wolf is on vacation.

Eventually we began our way up to Homes Peak - the highest point in Osage County.

(Yup, it is WAY UP THERE!) Feels harder than it looks. This year, instead of heading right up, we circled around the back side & came UP from the other side.

What a BEAUTIFUL view of downtown Tulsa. No time to dawdle, so down the hill we went. (No worries, we made this loop twice for the 50K & once more during the marathon.)

After pounding my quads on the downhill being sure not to run too fast & plant my face into the ground, we came out again on level ground.

After a battle up the "Hilll From Hell", we headed back down again to head around the pond in front of the lodge, to the turn-around & then go do it all again.

The start of the marathon was like deja vu from yesterday but a bit more wind & a bit cooler in the morning. Still, perfect for running.

We were off onto the trails soon enough & my memories of yesterday were a benefit to know what to expect & how to pace myself.

Definitely enough time to take in the beautiful morning on the water. Along the side & then back down onto the trails - getting into my groove.

                                                                 (speaking of "groove")

After a repeat of yesterdays trails & yesterdays quad pounding hills, we came out near the entrance to Post Oak Lodge. Coming out, we were met with the same GREAT aid station volunteers from earlier but this time were fixing breakfast burritos & pancakes.

YUM! This time, I did partake & they were great.

Ken must have gone out to get a haircut since this morning as he hands John a beverage. Stormy on the other hand, kept this 60's spirit as seen in the background.

From here, it was a short mile & a half out & back on the road  & then back on trails (hence the term "TROAD")

After this, we turned around only to repeat it (well almost all of it). On the final loop, we stayed on the main drive up to the main lodge (did I mention UP?) Sorry no pics - I was tired by this point & did not pull out the camera.

When it was all said & done, Know No Boundaries once again, broke boundaries. Get with us & we can work with you on achieving the same. It was a GREAT two days of trail running on GREAT trails run by two GREAT race directors. Johnny & Darryl did a GREAT job.

(Oh, in case you are wondering, I had my car towed to my mechanic & I need a new radiator! BUMMER! But it was two great days of running with friends.)

God Bless;
K2

A Boundary Breaker from the Great White North

Albert Martens is a gentleman unlike anyone I have come to know & a boundary breaker unlike no other.

Albert lives in Manitoba, Canada, has been married to Edna since 1970 & has (3) children. So far, nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Well, Albert has completed (46) full marathons, (11) ultra marathons including (4) time entry into the Marathon des Sables in Morocco (one official finish), a 1024 km run across Germany for a fundraiser, a 333 km run across Switzerland, Badwater Ultra, Biel 100 km in Switzerland, Run 101 (for his mother's 101st birthday).

Albert's TOTAL DISTANCE run is equivalent to once around the world = 40,074 km!

In addition, Albert was inducted into the Manitoba Running Hall of Fame in February 2011 & has raised $225K for various charities through his running.

Albert has also completed (2) books -

• One Million Steps in 1997
• Sand in My Shoes in 2008

What are his plans you might ask? Albert is planning on producing a running documentary (Grand Canyon), adding a few baseball campls in Canada, planning a Polar Bear Marathon in Churchill, Manitoba in November 2012 & continuing his brain-storming idea oc a cross-Paraguay with Athletes in Action.

Ablert Martens is truely a BOUNDARY BREAKER.

God Bless;

K2

Is this boundary really necessary?

Okay, so my goal here is not to reiterate the fact that many of the "boundaries"  or "limitations" that seem to keep us from becoming all that we have been created for are within our own minds (sub consciously at times), but to just bring up some of those ridiculous things that we consciously set & which does create a boundary.

It is a boundary drawn between individuals or individuals & society.

Look around, do you see it? In today's world, it is EVERYWHERE.

That's right. practically everyone you see is wearing headphones. Be it listening to their favorite tunes, that inspirational podcast or that audio book that they have wanted to read.

They are everywhere; walking in some self created Zombie-like state. They are within themselves often oblivious to anyone or any thing around them.

What they have done, is created a boundary between themselves & everything around them.

And we wonder WHY communications on many levels have begun to break down (no, I am not talking about texting, tweeting or IMing). I mean REAL, PHYSICAL, FACE TO FACE communications.

When did this break down begin? Was it with our current generation or did it start with the previous generation? Is it the fault of the individual or their parents?

Well, after a bit of research, I may have found the answer.

We were weaned on them. back in the earliest days of our lives, we wore these head devices & we have never looked back!


Really now. One can't believe EVERYTHING that they read, right?

None-the-less, I actually do believe that there is an artificially created boundary that many in our society have created & I additionally believe that this boundary DOES AFFECT our communications with our society & with our envoronment.

God Bless You'
K2

Are You a Hunter or a Fisherman?

Okay, let's start with a bit of explanation. As a hunter, you scout out your territory, look into the patterns of your prey, get into a good position & when your prey is in your sites, you FIRE! Now, if your prey happens to sense that you are there; if they smell you or feel your presence, they will BOLT as fast as they can in the opposite direction robbing you of that prize.

On the opposite side now, we have the fisherman. Now fisherman are quite different in that they go about things in an entirely opposite way. Although they might still scout out their fishing spot & look into weather patterns & favorite feeding spots but here they cast their bait & WAIT. If the bait is right, the fish will come to them & take their hook.

What is my point you might ask.

Well in hunting, what you are trying to catch runs the opposite way when you are sensed while in fishing, what you are trying to catch comes to you.

We are a lot like that as well. We have some product or service that we want, some "big deal" we want to share or some great proposition we want to offer. It is often quite obvious when we are mingling or networking that we are "on the hunt" so to speak to find our latest "prey" to whom we can sell our product or service to. Now at times this may work, but after the first sell, they too will BOLT.

Being more like the fisherman is a much more effective way not only to gain friends & clientele, but to draw them to you in general. Once they are drawn to you, they will that there "is just something special" about you, & whatever it is, they want some of it. They want to be there & this is exactly where you want to be.

This is critical not only in products or services, but also in surrounding ourselves with positive individuals who are willing to help you.

We cannot always break boundaries alone & need help. It is these people, those drawn to you that will help you break that next boundary that you are trying to break.

Become a fisherman & break that boundary.

God Bless;
Ken

Resolutions

Well now. We have just about arrived at the point every year where everyone begins to look back on the year's events & reflect on what direction that they want to go in the coming year. Have we achieved any of the goals that we set for ourselves or have we once again allowed circumstances to dictate what we do or do not achieve?

If you are like me, it is probably a bit of both. I have achieved some of my goals while others where pushed aside by "life"; things circumstances that seemly are out of our control.

Maybe the problem is not life's circumstances. All of this STUFF that seems to side track us happens to all of us yet there are still those who seem to achieve all that the set out to accomplish.

Is this because they are better then us? I say NO. Is this because they have set goals that are easy to achieve? Here I also say NO. Is it because they are not as busy as we are? Once again, I say NO.

I believe that the reasons are multifaceted. One reason may be the fact that we do not give much thought to WHAT it is that we actually want to achieve  & have not quantified it in terms of something that can be measured. Wanting to loose weight is very, easy as we can all looks a pound without much effort however if this had been our goal, we likely had more than this in mind. Wanting to loose 15 pounds by a fixed date gives you a target to shoot for & to hit. It is quantifiable & measurable.

We also MUST be passionate about what we want. As humans, we buy, do, consume & like everything based upon emotion. This applies to everything from chocolate to selecting a surgeon. We must "like" that person or thing (emotion again). We analyze how they/it makes us "feel".

With enough passion, we can do practically anything. Just look around or read, passion has been the driving force behind most of what amazes us daily; the blind climber who summits Mount Everest, the bi-amputee who completes a marathon, they laid off worker who in their late 60's starts their own company, . . . . .

I say that with the start of 2012, YOU find some quiet time, reflect what it is that you are passionate about, write it down in quantifiable & measurable terms and at the stroke of midnight - - GO FOR IT and DO NOT LOOK BACK.

Do not think of failure as failure is not trying & trying again, but in not trying at all.