![]() |
|
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 07:05 AM
“A Race for Many”
Definition of the word “Friend” • A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts. • A person whom one knows; an acquaintance. • A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade. • One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, event or movement: such as, “A Race for the Cure” In a perfect world there would be no diseases, no violence, car accidents, no harm to anyone what-so-ever. In a perfect world only could this happen. There are many different obstacles that one must face in there lifetime, the only drawback is that a lifetime has no minimum time span. It could be just a few seconds to many years, but during that lifespan some people have the unfortunate wake-up call when they start to feel different from the days before. It could be nothing or it could be something, but whatever it is it should never be ignored. I didn’t. If many of you remember back in January I wrote something titled “My week(ness) in Hell”. It was my wake up call to being diagnosed with the life threatening disease diabetes. I did my best to try to describe to everyone how it felt for me during that week that forever changed my outlook on my life. As hard as it was and as much self pride that I have, I thought it would make a good story for my “friends” to get a good look of how it can be in the time of need. It was a very hard road and I had to dig deep to fight on, but I found the strength that I needed from some of my friends that I made during my years of enjoying this hobby and from my bride to be, Michelle. She was there for me at my lowest of times and knows what I was going through. My fight still continues on today and will for the rest of my life, but it is much easier now that I educated myself in nutrition and exercise and workout daily. I honestly don’t know how long this routine will continue to work for me, it may work until I’m gone or it may work for another day, I don’t know. But if another obstacle gets thrown my way, I will deal with it in the same manor of seriousness. You never know what may or may not happen, but I will be ready when the time comes. When I first had the idea of hosting a charity race I did my best to be prepared for anything. Imagine my disappoint when I arrived Saturday morning to find many people missing from the pre-registration list that was starting to look like a good turnout. My past experiences attending races with low turnout attendance or deciding to go to a different event or not do any racing at all, has giving me mixed feelings on why guys didn’t attend said event or mine for that reason. I do understand that many of you that initially signed up let me know that you my not be able to attend do to some other event around the same date as my event. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t disappointed on the low turnout, but the thing that concerns me, is if it was personal, or maybe some of you thought that I was going to pocket all the cash and laugh my way to the bank, or maybe you just don’t like me, I really don’t know. I do understand that some of you had a problem with the entrée fee of $50, some of you couldn’t “swing it” and told me the fee was too high. It is from my experience that RC car racing is not a cheap hobby/sport and you must pay to play. This was no club race, it was a charity benefit. Charity benefits are not cheap to hold and the main reason for hosting one is to benefit the charity, in this case, the American Diabetes Association. I don’t want anyone to think that the only reason why I care so much is because I do have the disease, if that’s the case, you would be wrong. I have been involved with charities pertaining to “MS”, my cousin died because of it in the worst way; she simply just faded away to nothing in a comatose state. I took part in the yearly MS 150 ride in her honor for four years straight and the entrée fee at that time was $100, but can you honestly put a price on trying to find a cure for something serious? I do understand that this was not a national event or some type of money race to add to a racing resume or monthly race report, but nobody can tell me that a sponsor would not be thrilled to hear of you attending a race in support of a charity. After all, we had lots of support from many companies that loved to be part of this and whose stickers grace the sides of all those fancy RC car bodies. More importantly, you could have come to honor a loved one, a family member, or just some “friend.” As many in attendance did just that. For those that did attend, I would like to personally thank each and every one of you. We all had the opportunity of being part of something that will benefit the lives of millions of people that are in need of a cure, medication and study and research to hopefully find a cure for diabetes. I am so proud of our accomplishment and we have succeeded to raise $2500 to the charity! We should all be very proud of this, our hobby had a very good weekend and we showed many that RC car racing can be used to make a difference. Thank you so much for not letting a thing like a weather forecast over-shadow reality. Many of you came up to me and thanked me for having this event, you told me of someone you knew with the disease and of yourselves that have it. I thanked you for coming and we talked about our experiences about living with it. You all know who you are. I wish you all the best of luck in managing your diabetes, I do know how hard it can be, but no matter what, never give up. All in all, we had a great time. Whether at the track, Hooters(hell yeah!!), Fridays, or just shooting the chit. I hope all you guys and girl, had a great time. The second annual will be better and bigger and have a date change to hopefully work with everyone’s schedule. We will do this again to raise money for the ADA. There will be more of everything, food , prizes, giveaways, raffles, all for the sake of the charity. Oh Yeah!! And racing too!!! Thanks for your time, Your Friend, Joe Torres Thanks to 3GuysRC for everything; George S, John Bonie and Rocco Zoccoli Thanks, Nick A, Sonny O, Rich S, Romer, Big Dom, Bernie, GQ Johnny, Detective Jack, Conde, KING, Kris P, Mike L, Tex, Ryan, Gosch Family, Dave K, Tony D Big Thanks to the owner Leisure Hours Hobbies and Raceway, Scott Thanks to all our Sponsors for your support. RC Buggy Shop Leisure Hours Nitro Joint King Headz Tony's Screws Carolinas RC A Main Hobbies RC Car Magazine Kasper Designs Gaurantee Graphixs Dace MFG EB MODS Panther Pro Line Parma BIG DOM for the HUGE Burgers Dent Tek Czech it Out Graphics Hobby Town in WI (JIM Ramsey hookup) ABT electronics (Thanks Jack) RC Pro Series --Then follow the rules! haha!-- -Tune |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 08:50 AM
Mr. Torres,
Two very well written pieces. Thank you for taking the time and putting in the work to host an event that clearly took a very large amount of your time, and that of countless others. I only wish I could have "afforded" the time to participate in the Race for the Cure. The entry fees were completely fair and reasonable for what was given over the three days. I too was shocked by the less than full house turnout. Perhaps people didn't realize the value they would receive from this event. I only hope that when the next Event is scheduled, I can clear my weekend to be part of it. You deserve a large THANK YOU, not the hassles that you documented above. The next time I am at the track I will introduce myself and personally express my gratitiude. Dave Cairns |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 10:54 AM
Dave, thanks for the kind words. I am a journalist at heart and writing is my first hobby. I clearly understand that people had other obligations and a 3 day event can be too much time. If you couldnt make it it is very understandable., I wasnt trying to be a dick to all that did not come, but there are some guys i have known in the hobby for many years that said they would be there and then the weather breaks and they decided to go race else where to race outside. I too like outdoor racing, but there willl always be time to do that. Maybe its just me, but i would never have blown off a friends charity race to race outside. If you had personal things to do thats understandable. It really has opened my eyes to how selfish this hobby can be. In the same manner it has opened my eyes to how great this hobby is. Im very proud and greatful of what we had accomplished over the weekend. Thanks.
On another note, I hope Bernie is doing well.
|
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 11:02 AM
I hope that there weren't too many who signed up and No-showed. That would be bad.
In no way did your words insult or demean anyone who didn't or couldn't come. If I were to have been racing ANYWHERE last weekend, it would have been at The Race for the Cure. You know those whose hearts are in the right place, put their bodies and money in the right place, as well. |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 11:21 AM
I would like to add to this.
I have been going through some rough and very serious issues in all areas of my life. It recently has not gotten better even after this event. I was determined to go to this event come hell or high water. I did go and tell you what. I know some of you more now than I did before. It made for a better friendship. I needed this weekend very badly for my own sanity. I enjoyed my self very much so that I actually has forgotten what it was like to leave things behind you and enjoy the moment. For me thank you to all who put this all on. It could not have come at a better time for me and I really do appreciate it whole heartedly. If your not breakin parts your not going fast enough-Biodragen NTC3 RTR assoc .15 NTC3 OS .18 Losi 8T, JR8611a ST servo, Futaba 9350 Th\Brk Servo, RB-C6BB Motor and Novarossi 528XR. |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 01:00 PM
Joe, awesome write ups (as always). The "cure" write up had my emotions and feelings all stirred up. A tear fell from the eye and I was shaking after I read it. Very touching read. Maybe it just hit me harder than others, not sure.
I really appreciate the thoughtfullness you put fourth for this race. I don't want to forget the other guys as they are just as much in my heart as you. All of you are great friends of mine and the time spent on putting this together was out of this world. I couldn't have asked for a funner weekend. Much thanks to my pals, JT, Rocco, George, John B. See you all next year when we do it again! (if this sounded ghey, I'm sorry, I'm just speaking from the heart) |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 01:15 PM
Speaking from the heart always sounds gay even coming from a woman, so you get a pass.
thanks Tex. I will need to get my partners together soon to discuss the 2nd annual "Cure" race. Lets put it this way, Scott wants to do it and so does BernBot, Looking at the race schedule for the season, I see 1 month not listed on there as having anything going on because nobody else has a kickazz indoor track like we do. That is the month Im aiming for, Merry X-mas. JT ![]()
|
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 01:21 PM
Good write up Joe.....like any of us that have read your previous write ups had any doubt you'd write something shitty. =P
Glad I was a part of it. Next time you plan on hosting the 2nd annual race, don't hesitate to ask me to help out in any way I can. After reading about some of the people that were suppose to come for this race, I myself was disappointed to see such a small turn-out. Hopefully, the next one will be bigger and better. And the ones that follow will continue to grow with numbers. 50-100 is pocket change compared to the feeling I got knowing that I contributed some money to help find a cure for one of America's fast growing illnesses. Rich S |
|
||||
|
04-28-2006, 11:57 PM
hey hagasn I have an idea for the next "cure" race and would love to help out big time...............my mom and many others in my family have suffered and died from heart disease. my grandma died when she was only in her 50's from a massive heart attack. also my mother has suffered through 4 massive heart attacks and the doc. said one more massive heart attack could of killed here quite easily. see, my mom was having chest problems and decided to drive to the hospital because she had a bad felling and when she got their she was in the ER for about 2 days and they didnt notice anything untill the very last day when they were about to send her home. the doc. wanted to send her home because nothing was showing up. so on the last day the nurse said she had a bad feeling that something very wrong had happened. so on the last test they did on her they found that she had suffered from 4 heart attacks in just 2 days.........I dont know about you guys but that is a miracle to survive 4 massive heart attacks. since then she has gone in to have stents put in because her arterys were clogged.. she's doing great now but still suffers some nights.....
basically i was thinking that we could do a cure race for "The American Heart Association"......if you like this idea please let me know, and also if you would like this to be the next "race for the cure" event i would love to team up with 3guysrc and plan out this event... thanks, kevin Losi 8ight with v-spec
|