Do Life: Seattle and My DetermiNation!

I first wrote about Ben Davis in October 2010 in a post called Start taking your dreams very, very seriously. I was inspired by the video he made about his 120-pound weight loss and began following his blog, Ben Does Life.

I also took his advice, "If you want to do it, all you have to do is do it," to heart and set a goal to buy a DSLR camera and begin pursuing photography. I had ridiculous anxiety and self-doubts about taking up a new hobby, but decided to stop being silly and just do it.

Fast-forward to this past weekend. Ben visited Seattle with his dad and girlfriend to meet up with some of his readers and run an unofficial 5K. I brought my camera, plus Aaron and his camera. Together, we made this:


Do Life: Seattle from Devon Mills on Vimeo.

And took a bunch of photos, including this shot of me with both of the Davis men:

In an interesting way, Ben's weight loss inspired me to get my camera. I spent most of the meetup using that camera to try to capture the inspirational effect Ben has on others (and trying not to destroy it while running).

I'm just now realizing how things have come full circle. Life is funny, huh?

In other running news, I'm about to start training for the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll half marathon! I recently joined the American Cancer Society's DetermiNation team to train for the race and raise money, working toward a goal of $1,250 by June 10. My first team run is this Saturday at 8 a.m. (eek!), but I've already received my tech shirt and am super excited to rock it!

When I registered for the half marathon several months ago, I actually opted out of fundraising for the American Cancer Society. At the time, it seemed like too big of a challenge on top of actually running the race.

But, once again, I realized that I too-often say "no" to things just because they are outside my comfort zone. I also realized that nothing bad could come out of making this commitment. I might not reach my fundraising goal, but at least I'll have tried, done some good and made some new friends along the way!

I kicked off my fundraising efforts today and raised $111 with the help of several of my Tumblr buddies. Even Ben threw down some money and encouraged his readers to contribute! If today's donations are any indication, I think I have a good shot at meeting my ultimate goal.

If you'd like to support my efforts to raise money for the American Cancer Society and crush 13.1 miles in June, please visit my fundraising page to make a donation!

Anything helps, and each gesture of support gives me a fantastic mental boost as I go into training for my first half marathon.

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