Crazy James Murray

Last week started with a bang.  The nice people at Cayman 27 invited me down to their studio for a live interview with Janelle on Daybreak.  I'm very thankful to have had the opportunity to discuss our event on Cayman Television.  I just hope people turned in to watch.  I was a bit nervous at the thought of doing live television but the interview was much easier than anticipated and the studio not nearly as intimidating as I had envisioned.  It also helps to discuss a topic that I'm passionate about (could've spoke for much longer than 5 minutes).

A friend of mine, Nicole Frolick of www.nicolefrolick.com, has blogged about a small technique on how to manifest more abundance in your life and while I'll be the first to admit I'm quite naive with regards to her manifestation theory and what it entails (I'm certainly not one to make lists of my feelings) I must admit that we are witnessing the manifestation of something special here in Cayman.

When I first considered doing an ultra event here on island my initial plans were quite simple.  I'd run 74 miles the day/night before the marathon, show up at the start of the marathon and run 26 more miles to make it 100.  I envisioned Lauren and a few friends following me in a car as I toured the island.  Now a few weeks later the original plan is but a distant memory.  Don't misinterpret my sentiments.  I'm not complaining but rather reflecting on how naive I was/am about what is possible.  When we were in the design stage of our website I asked Lisa (the legend and my coach) for quotes she would like to appear on her page/slider.  I know they aren't on the site yet but they will be.  One quote she sent read "If you can dream it, you can do it."  An appropriate adage for our event and a great motto to live by.

Moments ago I just finished a Yin yoga class and my two week schedule.  I'm quite pleased to say I've stuck with my schedule for the last week, the first time in a few weeks.  I finally feel like I'm settling back in.  My body was in a bad place over the weekend and I pulled the plug on my long run after 2 hours of a schedule 8.  Not sure what exactly happened but my body temperature was way up and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday with a fever.  It was as though I had an allergic reaction but I hadn't done anything different or ate anything unusual.  It's very possible the extreme heat here in Cayman had something to do with it.  By Monday evening I was starting to feel somewhat normal again.

Late last Tuesday night, after many hours of Adam Cockerill's precious time, we officially launched our website.  The following morning our online launch was followed by a gracious full page article in Cayman's local newspaper The Caymanian Compass and just like that our campaign was launched.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved but as thrilled as I was with our efforts we still have plenty of work ahead to prepare for our November run.  A crazy idea maybe up and running but we still need to get the rest of Cayman running.

It looks like we have yet another avenue to explore for A Crazy Idea.   During brunch today Paul Njoka came forward with some brilliant video ideas for the project including video blogs, a YouTube channel and a segmented video of the 100 mile run.  Paul operates a production company in his home country of Kenya which is responsible for producing four television shows currently on air.  I had a brief meeting with Paul later in the week and it became apparent he’d be a great asset for the project.  His knowledge, energy and experience are welcomed addition and we looking forward working with him.  Paul if you are reading this you need to provide a profile we can add to the site.

The event continues to come together nicely.  We met with the Cayman Islands Diabetes Association last week and had an extremely productive meeting.  CIDA are extremely enthusiastic about our event, and as fate would have it CIDA are in the midst of organizing a 5K fun run on the morning of November 26th at Caymana Bay.  Participating in CIDA’s event will serve as the perfect kick start to our 100 mile run (97 miles after the fun run).

We’ve spent the last week putting a proposal together for our concept. The plan is to use the material as a promotional tool to bring the local media on board and later down the raod attract some sponsorship. We still continue to receive plenty of positive feed back and have decided to try and work with the Cayman Islands Diabetes Association (CIDA) as we believe the ideology of our event, to get Cayman running and active, shares similar objectives with CIDA. We have a meeting with them to discuss the project with them later in the week.

It’s all happening so fast.  What started out as a simple crazy idea has continued to snowball and now it appears that the sky is the limit.  I have received more support for my Crazy idea then initially anticipated and people continue to come forward with great suggestions.  We’ve actually got to a point where we had to sit down and refocus our objectives due to all the possibilities.  While we’ve simplified it, for now, the possibility remains to revisit them at a later date.