My Secret Crush

Growing up I had many secret crushes ... Toby Bailey on the UCLA Basketball Team, Michael Owen on the England National Soccer team, Steve Lavin former UCLA Basketball coach, Steve Young from the SF 49ers, and the list goes on ... This past Friday I had the honor to send off my adult secret crush Dean Karnazes as he began his journey of running across America. This journey across America will take about 75 days averaging 40-50 miles of running per day. All monies raised benefits Actions for Healthy Kids.

The send off event began at 5am at Disneyland with the check-in. After check-in, the 200 runners were given basic instructions about the "staged" 500 yard run starting at Cinderella's castle in Disneyland. We briefly met Dean before he was taken away to do media interviews on the Regis and Kelly Live Show. As the taping of Regis and Kelly started, we watched the live feed from the Carnival holding area. With 15 minutes remaining in the show, the 200 runners lined up at Cinderella's Castle for the send-off. It was really hectic and felt unorganized. Out of nowhere, it was raining confetti and we were slowly jogging away. Many runners were holding up the traffic by trying to get their 5 seconds of fame and wave for the camera. Turns out, the show only aired an aerial shot of all the runners, so no close ups - haha! Once we reached the Main Street entry, Dean disappeared and was escorted away. This is why I say that this was very "staged."

The entire event had the potential to be fun and exciting, but turned out to be a little disappointing and very Hollywood. I was irritated by the Housewives of OC in matching pink tops trying obnoxiously to get on camera and close to Dean Karnazes. (But what's new, I'm always irritated by the Housewives of OC!) ... Nonetheless, the journey of running across America is beyond incredible and I'm happy to have been apart of this movement.

Check out and track Dean's run across America HERE!