Ready....set..... WE'RE OFF!

Last night I pulled an all-nighter. As a college student this is not a new phenomenon to me. I am used to going with very little sleep this time of year. Tonight is different. I've been walking around today feeling like I am on the brink of a life-changing experience. It's so surreal it's hard to describe. One would think I would be extremely stressed out but the reality is... I am full of peace. I wanted to say relaxed but then reflected on how busy I have been the last 24 hours and decided “relaxed” wasn't an appropriate description.I had to finish 2 final exam projects, finish packing, and make sure I had everything I would need to make my trip to LA a success.

In 1 hour I will head to RDU and catch a plane to Los Angeles. By 7 pm tonight, I will meet a man that has consumed the better part of my thoughts for a year now. His name is Mark Allison and he is taking on a challenge I personally could never accomplish. Mark is running from Huntington Beach, CA to Coney Island, NY and he's doing it in 100 days. I can't run 1 mile. Hell, let's be honest... I can't run a block without feeling like I need oxygen and a cute EMT ;-) When I volunteered to be his PR agent over a year ago, I had no idea how big this task would become but I have surprised myself in how much I really am able to accomplish when I put my mind to it. It helps that Mark is raising money for charities I can relate to. It also helps that he's from Newcastle.

Tonight, two more Geordies will enter my life . Mark and his publicist, Stu from Tonto Books. If you know about my love for all things Newcastle, you know why this makes me smile. I plan to teach them how to say "ya'll", feed them eat grits and educate them on the finer points of country music. I expect there to be a lot of dialect confusion which should add glee to the shenanigans.

Wye Aye... ya'll

We're not in Kansas anymore Toto...

There’s nothing like waiting for a natural disaster to strike. You know it can turn out to be nothing or it can be catastrophic. Your only option is to do what you can to prepare and then wait and see. I love those moments. I am one of those freaks that loves inclement weather. There’s nothing cooler than watching a thunder storm build up momentum and put on a lightning storm that makes one wonder how people don’t believe in God. Having lived in the Southern states most of my life, I am no stranger to impending natural disasters. I’ve ridden out more hurricanes than I can count and tornado warnings are a natural part of severe weather warnings. We watch the weather channel religiously during those times and smile and nod knowingly as it skips past us or dies out before it gets here. Hence my lackadaisical attitude this past Saturday, April 16^th. Never again…

It wasn’t the wind or the rain or even the dark skies that told me this was more than a practice run. It wasn’t even the screaming bullhorn of the weather alerts that were repeatedly interrupting the weather reports I was on TV. It wasn’t even the panic in the reports voice who was frantically reporting that a tornado had touched down in Sanford, wiped out 30 homes and flattened a Lowe’s Hardware. I thought “Sanford’s 30 miles away from here so I’m safe.” The thing that made me pack my most precious possessions in garbage bags and stick them in my backpack was my dog. I have an 11 yr. old retriever and she flipped out. I had the sliding glass door open to my balcony before the storm actually hit so I could watch the skies better and she would run out there and bark her head off and run into me and bark frantically. This was repeated over and over. Finally, I decided to peek out my front door and what I saw scared the life out of me. The sky was kind of dark but the winds… the winds were straight from hell. I had to push with all my might just to get my door open and saw people being blown around the parking lot, along with lawn furniture and garbage cans. In the distance I saw clouds coming to far down and too fast for them to be rain. I saw debris flying. I shut my door to go get my camera and when I came back to the door, there was Lilly, standing between me and the door and she wouldn’t move. I finally shoved her aside but by then I couldn’t get my front door open so I grabbed the backpack, put it on my back, and shoved Lilly in the tub and followed her in there. I left the sliding door open just in case it hit my building so it wouldn’t blow out the windows and I could hear the winds and the storm come crashing down.

The storm eventually bypassed us and less than a mile up the road smashed into Holly Springs, tearing up roads and homes. It then moved into Raleigh and wreaked havoc like I have never seen before in my life. A man I go to church with lost everything. Several other people I go to church with suffered extensive damage to their property. Yesterday I rode through the campus of Shaw University and it has so much damage they have suspended classes for the rest of the semester. NC State's campus had some damage but nothing like Shaw's.

I am 2 days past this disaster and yet, while sitting in traffic yesterday, emergency crew workers came racing up the road and my first response was to look toward the sky. I never thought I'd say this but I was actually happy to see the color Carolina Blue painted across the skyline.

Drum roll please...

The Run Geordie Run campaign is starting to pick up speed at a frantic pace. I had just hit the point of wondering how I was EVER going to get everything done when, down from Heaven, floats Ms. Katy Beaver. She heard me speak at PR Day and then again in her PR writing class and she came to me and asked if she could volunteer her services. Her willingness to tackle huge task and the determination I saw in her eyes when she started to tackle her first task as soon as I gave it to her told me we are lucky to have her join the Run Geordie Run PR team.

Per Katy, "I wanted to volunteer my time and energy with the Run Geordie Run campaign because I know the opportunity of working with Shelli Mayfield and being involved with a global campaign, will allow me to gain valuable experience in a 100 day time span. When first approaching Shelli on the topic of volunteering with the campaign, I was eager to do anything for her and the campaign. I thought that I would be lucky to staple papers together or make a couple phone calls. But after speaking with Shelli and realizing that she wanted me for the entire campaign and she wanted me to dive in, my expectations were exceeded.

I am so excited to work with such a great campaign, where the idea behind the event is to benefit two charities that have impacted the lives of everyone in the campaign. I can't wait to see the success of everyone's hard work!"

May I proudly introduce my new Assistant Account Executive... Ms. Katy Beaver!

Funding for the Run Geordie Run support team

To say that life is chaotic at this moment is an understatement. I am a senior at NC State and it is nearing the end of the spring semester. For me (and most other seniors), this means a time of nothing but studying and finishing projects and attempting to finish out the semester without having a nervous break down. I am also working at Rumley Marketing in Apex as their Social Media Coordinator. I handle all the social media needs for their two main divisions: Encourage Them Ministries and Support Military Spouses as well as Support Military Spouses flagship campaign, Mission Heart Hug.

Having said all that, my true love at the moment is my PR work for the Run Geordie Run campaign. I will fly to California April 26th to meet up with Mark and a member of the support team, Stuart Wheatman. We will spend the 4 days before the official start of the run getting Mark and Stuart acclimated to the weather and the time change. We also have some media appearances we are lining up!

I recently spoke to my church group about helping out with funding for some needs the support team has in regards to accommodations and transportation. This is the slide show I shared with them.

Run Geordie Run PR

View more presentations from Shellimay.

There is a Paypal button on the right side of this blog for anyone wanting to use Paypal to donate $$ to the needs of the support teams. In addition, be sure to go to the Run Geordie Run website and donate to these two charities also. Any monies left over after securing the needs of the support team will be donated to these charities.