Some quick blogkeeping: Congratulations, entry # 18, Sarah @ Cooker Girl – Random.org selected your entry in my giveaway for a $100 Provenance gift certificate. I’ll email you shortly to send you your prize.

After packing my suitcases, I’m off for a 10 day drive around the Northeast. From New Jersey and Philly to Virginia, I can’t wait to catch up with friends and family all over the place.

The only thing that I’m a little sad to miss is Cleveland Marathon Weekend because I was hoping to run in the 5K tomorrow.

Fortunately, I don’t have to wait much longer for my next 5K:

On June 2, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and The Gathering Place will celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day with the 13th annual Race for the Place 5K and one mile walk.

Over its thirteen-year history, Race for the Place has raised over $1 million for the free services offered at The Gathering Place. This year’s goal is to net $350,000.

The funds raised will support programs and services for those touched by cancer in Cleveland’s local communities – support groups, children’s programming,  art therapy, nutrition classes, lectures, lending medical libraries, the new HairPeace Wig Salons and more.

All of these are designed to provide support, education and empowerment to those who are in treatment, coping with side effects, caring for someone with cancer or grieving the recent loss of a loved one.

My dad rocking some swagger

I’m running for my dad, who is a 3-time cancer survivor – melanoma and two rounds of lymphoma.

I always thought my dad was awesome – smart, hilarious, outgoing, hardworking and caring – always there for my family.

But when I watched him go through treatments for lymphoma twice and keep a happy spirit the entire time, I saw him in an entirely new light. I don’t know how he perservered and accepted that whatever was going to happen would happen. He studied up on treatments and became friends with everyone at the hospital – still going back to visit a few years later.

When I’m feeling down about something minor, I look at what he’s gone through and think that if he could do all that with a smile still on his face, I can deal with whatever’s going on in my life.

It showed me how capital-AWESOME he is. As well as my mom and sister who supported him through and after all of it.

So, I don’t care that I’m a little out of practice and life’s a busy mess right now. After learning about the programs that The Gathering Place provides for people like my dad, there was no way I wasn’t going to run.

If you’d like to support me in the 5K, please make a donation at my Race for the Place donation page. I need to raise just another $65, so even a $5 or $10 donation is a HUGE help. [UPDATE: Although I’ve met my goal, you can still donate and help raise even more money for The Gathering Place. Thanks to everyone who’s donated so far!]

Help me cross my fundraising finish line for Race for the Place

The race starts, rain or shine, at Beachwood Place at 9:00 a.m. (race day registration at 7:30). Registration rates vary from $10-$30 depending on date of registration, age and whether you’re running the chip-timed 5K run or 1-mile fun run/walk.

Not running? You should still come out and celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day. The Celebration Village opens at 8:00 am with family activities, music and more. And a ceremony featuring WKYC Sports Anchor Jim Donovan, this year’s honorary cancer survivor chair, starts at 8:45 a.m.

Learn more about Race for the Place at touchedbycancer.org/support-us/racefortheplace.

And come back next week for 2 great guest posts from Be a Little Weird and BiteBuff while I’m on vacation!

Have you entered to win 2 tickets to Cleveland’s Great Big Home and Garden Show? You have until Tuesday, January 24 at 11:59pm – good luck!

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When I was in college, it was basketball not football that was really big at our school. When I first moved to Ohio, I was fascinated by how OSU and Michigan fans filled the bars on Saturdays to watch football. I really hadn’t experienced anything like that before.

College basketball, on the other hand – now that’s something we would drop everything for. With the Philadelphia Big 5 (La Salle, St. Joe’s, Villanova, UPenn, and Temple), basketball season was the time of year the campus would rally.

Now that I live in Cleveland I still don’t have to go far to get my fill of college hoops each season, as the Cleveland State Women’s and Men’s basketball teams make their home in the heart of downtown CLE.

When the Cleveland State University Women’s Basketball team takes on Detroit next Saturday, you too will have more than one reason to attend the game:  the Vikings are participating in the NCAA Pack the House Challenge.

The purpose of the January 28th Pack the House Game is to increase awareness in the sport of women’s basketball and help prepare the next generation of women’s college basketball players and fans.

All tickets for the 2pm game cost only $1, with the goal of setting an attendance record. For first-time attendees, it’s a great (and inexpensive!) way to experience Vikings basketball.

There will also be post-game free throws, $1 menu items and a free KidZone for families.

If local school pride’s not enough to get you down to the Wolstein Center on the 28th, a portion of all ticket sales will benefit The Gathering Place, a nonprofit, community-based cancer support center serving the needs of Greater Cleveland.

My dad’s a three-time cancer survivor so I’ve seen firsthand how excruciating the journey can be. Programs like the ones that The Gathering Place provides free of charge are often essential for the individuals and families touched by cancer.

It’s easy to build awareness for Women’s Basketball and raise money for The Gathering Place — for only $1:

• Click here to buy tickets online.
• Visit the Wolstein Center Box Office at 2000 Prospect Avenue.  (The box office is at the Annex entrance on the corner of Prospect and E. 21st (Green Awning), open Monday-Friday between 10am and 6pm.)

When you buy your tickets, let them know you learned about the game through this post by entering the code ClueInto in the promo code section of the ticketing website. If you purchase your ticket in person, provide the code to the box office seller.

If you can’t make it on January 28th, you can learn more about the Vikings’ 2011-2012 Women’s Basketball Season here. All home games are played at the Wolstein Center, 2000 Prospect Avenue.

Disclosure: I was invited by the Wolstein Center to participate in a contest among other local bloggers to see who can pack the house the most. As always, though, my thoughts and the choice of events I share are 100% my own.