1st Annual Walk-Mile-For-Kyle!!

This last Sunday we held our 1st Annual Walk-A-Mile-For-Kyle. The walk in Kyle's memory was originally Kyle's Mom's (Debbie) idea to hold an annual walk. When Debbie met Mamie (the Portland marathon Charity contact and Medical director), we were set with an event day and a great organization (the Portland Marathon) to support our cause.
Choosing Open Meadow Alternative Schools as our Charity was the perfect fit. Me, Kyle, Andrew and Adam all went to Open Meadow and the school played a major role in helping each of us turn our lives in a more positive direction when we were struggling in High School. When it was all said and done, we raised more than $2200.00 worth of Donations for the excellent program.
Our Walk was a 6.2mile (10km) hike along the last miles of the Portland Marathon course. This worked out really great because we were able to cheer on all the Marathoners at the same time. Among the marathoners was Open Meadow's Executive director (Andrew Mason)who finished in a solid 3hrs 31min (over an hour faster than his previous marathon time)!! Now there were over 9,000 people running the Marathon on Sunday. We must have really stood out though because I cannot tell you how many volunteers, spectators and police officers who asked me "who is Kyle?". It was so cool to be able to tell complete strangers about my best friend and how his nick name came to be "Walk-A-Mile", hence the event name Walk-A-Mile-For-Kyle

Now on to the Walk:



This is the park where all 60 of us would meet the morning of the walk. Notice two things in this picture:
1: Grammy Wammy (Kyle's Grandma) needs to set the correct date on her camera!
2: You see that strange light up in the tree? Kyle was with us on this day. Smiling down on us the entire time. Probably laughing that we were having to walk in the rain like he had on so many occassions when he was earning his nickname "Walk-A-Mile-Kyle"
 Walkers getting ready to get the show on the road!

This was the wide part of the road that we could stay to the left of all the Marathon runners and out of their way. There were some sections though where Marathoners had to weave through a sea of green Zupan logos!
Yep I wore my blue tights! And yep, Orion wore cut off jean shorts with a hole in the butt!
Thanks for the awesome Water Bottles and GU2O, GU Energy!!
Everybody seems really happy in this picture. This must have been taken before we started walking!
Walk-A-Milers-For-Kylers all over the place! Grammy Wammy and Aunty Mary made cool picture-pins of Kyle (you can see on the shirts) that we got to wear!
2hours of Walking in the rain and we were finished! 6.2miles proved to be a long distance to Walk. Everyone hung in tough and finished for Kyle though!
A big thanks to Mamie Wheeler, Les Smith and the Portland Marathon for letting us participate in their event.
Huge thanks to Zupan's Markets for sponsoring our team and their generous donation.
Thanks a million to Gu Energy for keeping us all hydrated by supplying waterbottles and GU2O for the entire team. (We have extra water bottles and Gu2o that was not used and will be given to Open Meadow students to use)
Thank you Debbie Kepic for getting this event going!
Thank you Grammy Wammy and Aunty Mary for doing such a great job promoting this event!
Thanks to everyone from Lane Powell who participated and donated! You guys really came through for us!
Thank you and Congrats to Andrew Mason, Paul Shoen and Mondo Espinoza for joining our team, donating to Open Meadow and finishing the entire 26.2mile run strong on Sunday!
Thank you also to the staff of Open Meadow. Especially Donna Schaeffer, Michele Taylor, Bob Kellett, Andrew Mason, oh and you too Hoover! It meant a lot to us to be able to raise money and recognition for your program. We appreciate all the support you gave us to make this event run smoothly.
I also want to thank the entire team who walked on Sunday and everyone that helped donate in memory of Kyle. YOur support for this event in its first year was huge, and I am looking forward to growing and improving this Walk for years to come!
Thanks Everybody!

Kyle Robert Kepic
"Walk-A-Mile-Kyle"
Rest in Peace Bro!