Zach's blog to you!

Hey guys, Zach Hamm here! Before this run, I never thought about the endangered wildlife in Florida the way I do now. I learned a lot a about the panthers and alligators. Learning about the panthers and getting to see dozens of alligators in person has affected me deeply and I can't turn away from the importance of maintaining the habitats of our local wildlife. I hope our efforts to raise awareness have been eye opening to our followers.

Zach and Kim want to say thanks!!

Only a little bit left to go! Zach and Kim want to say thanks to Cristina Ferrer!

Gretchen's blog going over 7 mile bridge

Oh, six thirty in the morning and my only goal is to not fall into the water this morning. Seven mile bridge. The distance isn't scary, it's the morning drivers and the black water that we're running over. As the sun comes up an the miles roll by, my stomach begins to settle. Key West is in our plans today and I'm excited for the next forty miles that lie ahead.

Go Eagles!!

President Bradshaw leads by example! Many thanks to him and his wife Jo Anna for their donation, thanks for believing in us!

Go Eagles!

Deja Vu!

Beginning from the Collier-Seminole State Park, Day 7 is on its way! Seems like it was just yesterday that we were at this point at the end of Day 1. Let's give our runners motivation a they make their final approach to finish at FGCU! Donate at www.indiegogo.com/t4tails!

Sunset in the Everglades

The day comes to a close as the sun sets over the marshy Everglades! The runners are tired but happy. We're closer than ever to out goal and Santi would like to thank Christina Padgett for her donation! Check out www.indiegogo.com/t4tails to support us and donate for the panthers!

Our supporters keep us going!

Another big shout out to Maggie Seitz! You're amazing and thanks for your support! Kim thanks you Maggie! (:

Thank you Victoria!

Dr. Kelly and Zach wish to thank Victoria McConnell for her help and support! If you wish to join Victoria as one of our supporters, visit www.indiegogo.com/t4tails and donate!

Lets go indiegogo!

Its the sixth day and were making progress: both on the trail and on our indiegogo page! Special thanks to Alison Gagliardi from some of our runners! (:

Mike sends a message to his family

Good morning from the Keys!! We're about 30 miles into our 5th day and we're still going strong. The sun is out, the breeze is just right and the view of the ocean is picture perfect. I'd like to say hi to my wife Kristin, my son Mikey and my daughter Mia! Thinking about them and all of the silly and fun things that we experience each day as a family has helped me get through my longer runs. I love you guys so much and thank you for supporting me on this trip. I'd like to thank everyone who helped plan and organize this run and also a big thank you to everyone who donated!! It's almost time to run again, talk to you guys soon.....

Jason's blog: Sore but still going

Good morning! On the road again for the 5th day of this relay race, and I'm feeling pretty okay, although my legs are really sore. But it's all good! I did want to mention how when I'm out there running, I realize how fast these cars are driving past me. It's scary honestly, animals that live around here don't stand a chance against a speeding car! We have notice a lot of litter along the way, as well, which is really disappointing. On a positive note, I'm looking forward to BEING DONE! Love the cause, but this is definitely hard and we're all really sore and tired. Don't do this at home, kids!

Dr. Kelly's Blog of the Day

This has been amazing. We are on day 5 and ready to leave from Marathon. Thanks to the Coconut Cay Resort for all of your support of FGCU! This has been surprisingly tiring. The mornings are humid, afternoons blazing hot, and the nights just exhausting. But even with all of this, runners were fighting to take on the extra miles last night. Really, anyone who thinks all young people are lazy never met this crew.

Everyone is in good spirits, giddy even. Make no mistake about it though, we want to get home. We’ve all learned a ton about our abilities, lives, friendships. I’ve learned to update Facebook statuses and that properly cared for blisters don’t pop by themselves (gross, I know). We’ve met good people who care about supporting animals and others, and mean people who would sacrifice our natural environment on mere ideological grounds.

Thank you to all of our Panther Kittens, Buddies, and Warriors! Thank you also to our families. You have been so supportive, especially when each of us went into the “dark night” of our souls on this voyage. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you at Bar Louie on Friday! We’re just $1000 from our final goal. Thank you for your support and for encouraging others to help us make this a 100% success!!!!!!

Key-Deer-in-the-headlights-look

Hello to all our panther people! It's day four and we've been running all through the Keys for two days now. The miles are long, the days are hot, but most importantly the cars are going fast. I honestly can't imagine any kind of panther or Key deer trying to move about at night. This is why we're doing what we're doing. Don't forget to donate at www.indiegogo.com/t4tails, we know Jena Thompson did and we appreciate the help, thank you!!

Why Gina Runs

Hey everyone! I'm taking time off the run to tell you a little about myself. I started running in middle school, but then stopped running for over ten years. During my time away from running I did not lead a very active lifestyle. It wasn't until my father had a heart attack during my second year in college that I began focusing on my health. Since then I have picked up running again and feel healthier than I have in years. I wanted to participate in this event because I have always been passionate about conservation. On Saturday, I graduated with my BS in Biology, and I thought this would be a great start to a new chapter in my life.

Jason loves the animals! His blog post.

Every time that its my turn to hit the road, I think: Am I definitely insane for signing up to do this. I'm tired, the van smells of smelly runners feet, and the runners in my van can't get our group gang sign right (get it together Aby!). But as I was running down US1, I saw a Key Deer at the side of the road looking at me. Key deer are endangered animals down here in the Keys, and I remember how nice it was to see them from when I used to live in the Keys myself. The number of key deer that are hit by cars is boggling to me. It's a big conservation effort here to help the small population that they have left. That reminded me why I like this cause. Because not only is this money going towards the Florida panther, but towards helping other endangered creatures in Florida as well.

Dr. Kelly blog post

What used to motivate me was this quote: "Remember, someone busier than you has already run today." This has taught me that that quote is misguided. Instead, I wonder how many are so busy that they cannot run today. I hope I remember this when I get home.

Good morning from Aby!

As day 3 comes to an end we've ran so far that we're at Marathon, ate a delicious dinner at Lorelei Restaurant and Cabana Grill, and settled into our wonderful rooms at the Coconut Cay Resort & Marina for the night! I was part of the later team of runners, so our day started at 7am, but the first group of runners had already completed a couple legs of the run by the time the sun was up! We all ended up running at least 11 miles today and we're all so very sleepy after doing it but we had a great day together as a team nonetheless. :) It's such a great feeling to be doing this run, and I think all of our runners would absolutely agree. Multiple times throughout the day today we ran past road kill going down Krome and Sound Card road and it really did give us a sense of what a big problem our wildlife is facing. We got to see countless alligators, turtles, and birds while we were running, sightseeing was half the fun of running! And now that we're in the Keys, there's so much more to look at! We have all enjoyed our time running down Overseas Highway tremendously, but we are very excited to get to Key West today!

The Wild, The Fund, and Dr. Kelly

It's an absolutely gorgeous day riding over to Key Largo. Our route has us going down Card Sound road instead of US1, which is a lot less traffic and definitely more scenic. These guys have been running next to birds and snakes (all nice, no accidents!) and still a good amount of road kill.
Running through these amazing wild places really gives us more insight to what these animals go through. And it makes us happy to know that the organization that we are donating to, The Conservation Fund, really has the animals' best interests in mind. They are working to conserve the habitat that they live in, and just recently they completed a project to save 650 acres of prime panther habitat. This give the panthers way more territory to roam in, which means less chance of them getting hit by a car. We are so happy to be working with them for T4T!!
Attached below is a video from yesterday (too many videos for our Run Manager to handle! Haha), with Dr. Kelly after his run and a special thank you to Erin Smith. Stay with us to keep updated!

Fun on a Run

It's 6:55. It's winter break. I just ran two miles. I know what you're thinking: why?
Why would you want to run a 600 mile relay to raise funds and awareness towards, the increasingly endangered Florida panther population? I don't know. I also don't know how any animal, not just panthers, could possibly survive from the way we encroach on their habitats. I don't see a panther or a gator or a snake being able to cross some of the roads I've had to run through. That's my biggest motivation, because it's not fair. Not fair to the bordering-on-100 panther population. So don't forget to visit us, check us out and support us online at www.indiegogo.com/t4tails! Share our story!

Day 3!

It's 6 AM on Monday, December 17th, and our runners are already awake and out there running! Well, half of them are. We're trying something a little new today, with half of the group starting the run now (We're the A-TEAM!), and then Team B will meet us around 9 AM. That way this group can go to sleep a little earlier, and the other team could sleep in a bit. Can't run well if you don't sleep well!
Took lots of videos yesterday, too many to put up in one day while running! Here's one where Santiago tells us about some of the things he saw on the run, good and bad.

Halfway through the Everglades with Mike

It's 1:20 PM and the runners are halfway through today's run! In the Everglades, and the runners have been seeing so many things, from blue herons to egrets and alligators to cottonmouths.
So far the runners have done a little more than yesterday's mileage and they have the whole second half to go.
I just caught Mike Ruksenas before he started his next leg so that he could say hi to all of our supporters! Watch it below!

Good amount of road kill out here

Hey bloggers! As I am typing I hear one of the runners snoring away behind me, getting some rest before she has to go again. It's beautiful out here, getting warmer and sunnier!
Got two pictures attached here:
First one is some of the many things we have drawn on our T4T vans. Remember, if anyone wants to say hi to us, leave a comment on our blog or Facebook page!
Second picture is the carcass of a vulture. We believe that he was hit by a car, although unsure. The runners have seen a fair amount of road kill while running, and a river otter was almost hit by a car while we were watching Aby go! Craaaazy.
Don't forget that if you want to help us raise money for all of our states' wildlife, please donate to: www.indiegogo.com/t4tails

Good morning Gina on Day 2

Morning everyone! We were all up at 5 AM getting ready to run, and we are on our way. The runners are a bit tired, but are mainly excited to be running through Big Cypress and the Everglades today next to all of the wildlife and land that we want to conserve.
Gina Hendrick is our runner who graduated from FGCU yesterday, and she is ready to run today! It's crazy graduating from college one day and then running a 600 mile relay the next, but she is just awesome like that. Here's a video of a sleepy Gina before her first leg (it's too early for this!)

A little video blog from the staff

End of day 1 and I, personally, am so excited for day 2. Can't wait to be going with the runners through the Everglades and seeing the wildlife that we are trying to conserve. Being on a run like this is truly amazing and really makes you look at your life and think of all the good that can be done.
But enough about that, we have one last video blog of the day, not from a runner, but from our Run Manager who is also on the road with us. Watch the video below to see a hello to you from Jackie Chastain!

End of Day 1

WE DID IT!! Day 1 is done! We have lots of pictures that will be put up on our Facebook page, so look us up and check it out :)

We couldn't have done today without our volunteer runner, Kim Jackson. We were a little short due to graduation and other circumstances, but Kim really kept us going and was a trooper. We even have a video blog for our honorary Trails for Tailer.

Aby, our Runner and Co-Director!

Everyone has been such great sports! The weather is getting nicer here in south Naples, and we are so close to today's end!
Aby Henneberry just finished running her leg. She is both a runner for Trails for Tails and one of the directors for this whole project. View her video blog below, she is so excited to be out here, as you will see :)

Dr. Kelly takes a break

It's just getting hotter and hotter out here, but these runners keep going! We are so thankful for all the support we've been getting for our cause. We just need to keep pushing!
All of the money that we're getting goes towards this state's animals, not only for the endangered Florida panther, but also for the bobcats, beautiful Florida birds, the manatees, and much, much more.
Dr. Kelly has a message for you guys! View the video below and see how he's doing!

Alyssa's Video Blog

The run is happening right now down Imperial Pkwy and Bonita Beach Rd! Can't believe we've gone so far so quickly. The runners have been running, and they love it. Biggest complaint was just running in the hot sun!
Below is Alyssa's video blog, check it out! She'll tell you how her part of the run went.

Started the run -- Say hi to Zach!

AND THE RUN HAS STARTED! 600 miles, 9 runners, 7 days -- beginning right now.
Dr. Sean Kelly is running right now, followed by Aby Henneberry, Santiago Yori, and Zach Hamm, and more after that.
Zach actually took a little video to introduce himself, so check him out below :)

Meet Santiago on Video!

We're here out side of Alico Arena and graduation is just starting! Congratulations to all of the FGCU graduates from the T4T team!!!
While we are waiting for the graduation ceremony to end and the run to start, One of our runners decided he wanted to introduce himself via video blog.
Click the video below and meet Santiago Yori!

Jason's video blog!

Good morning everyone! It's bright and early, and the runners are here packing up the vans for the route. We start running around noon, so keep checking up on the blog for updates!

Here is runner Jason Davis's first T4T video blog!

Tomorrow is the Day

The Trails for Tails party at Bar Louie tonight was GREAT! So many people were at the bar loving the finger foods and the cause got a fair amount of donations too. You've got to love how people are inspired by our runners and the things they are going to achieve in the next week. It was really inspiring to see how much people really do care. The atmosphere was relaxed, it was a great time for the runners and the donors that are helping to make this possible.

And while we're talking about the atmosphere and great food, BIG SHOUT OUT to BAR LOUIE!! 

We wouldn't have had such a great time anywhere else. The people at Bar Louie are so supportive of our cause, and made such a big contribution by donating the finger foods to us for the party. So from the runners, the organizers, and the rest of the T4T team, THANK YOU, BAR LOUIE!

This whole project has been a crazy rollercoaster for the people that organized it. We have had three months to make and execute a 600 mile run and raise $10,000 for Florida wildlife conservation in addition to the funds required to execute the run. This is such an incredible achievement, we are so thankful for all of the sponsors and donors that have helped us. It all starts tomorrow!

We'll be at the Alico Arena at FGCU and starting the run right after the graduation ceremony! Come by to support our cause, or keep on the look out for us running down to Naples!

Also, if you want to see pictures of our kick-off party at Bar Louie, click this link!
T4T Kick-Off Party Photos!

Bar Louie Party!

We're here at Bar Louie at the Gulf Coast Town Center, and you should be here with us! Bar Louie is really supporting us with this party, and anyone that comes and donates gets free finger food! Come on over and meet the team :)

2 more Panthers dead -- Help us help them!

So this past week TWO MORE panthers were killed, which is horrible because these two panthers bring the total number of dead panthers this year up to 26. The previous record was 25 back in 2009, so this has proven to be a dangerous year for these beautiful big cats. 

There are just a little more than 100 Florida panthers left in the wild, and because of human development and roads crisscrossing through panther country their future is getting grimmer. Is this really what we want? Or do we want to help restore the environment and give endangered animals like these more hope?

We're starting our run on Saturday for a week for running through habitats with some of the most interesting and beautiful flora and fauna in the world. We'll be posting pictures from the run online, so be sure to check them out! 

NBC News Segment

Be sure to check out NBC2 tonight at 5:00 (and possibly later, as well) for coverage on our run! We are thrilled to be able to get the word out across SW Florida this way. Please let your friends and family know about tuning in tonight and don't forget to keep spreading the word about our upcoming run!

Woo-hoo!

On December 6, Trails for Tails was awarded a $500 grant from DoSomething.org! We are extremely proud to be the recipients of this generous grant and even more proud of our team members for working so hard on this! Congrats, everyone!

Athletes Photo Shoot

On Tuesday we had a photo shoot specifically for our athletes in their newly received official Trails for Tails dri-fit shirts. They are neon green instead of forest green so our runners can be seen easily from the road. We had a lot of fun taking these pictures. Portraits of each of the athletes and the rest of these great pictures can be seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hljphotography/sets/72157632127645029/

Thanks for following! Only two weeks to go!
--Hannah
(Marketing Coordinator and Photographer)

Indiegogo

Wow, we have been seeing some great support at our Indiegogo site! Thanks to everyone for the donations so far, and please, keep spreading the word about our cause. We have reached almost 50% of our $3000 goal, but we still have more to go!

Panther Festival

Come visit us today at Collier Regional Park. We'll be there until 4:00. Help us preserve the endangered species' habitats here in Florida!

Donate!

We have a new donation site up! Indiegogo makes it really easy to donate directly to us, and we even have some special gifts to give you if you do. Please take a look and donate today!

http://www.indiegogo.com/t4tails

Upcoming Events

October 19: Go to Applebee's and get 10% off all food/alcohol (please drink responsibly and legally) when you give them a flyer we will be passing out.

October 20: Honors Car Wash! Sign up in the Honors Lounge and don't forget to bring supplies with you. Also, don't forget to bring your Service Learning Forms!

November 8: Eat out at Foster's Grille between 5pm-8pm and get 20% off when you give your waitress the Trails for Tails Flyer.

Come visit the Trails for Tails table!

We're out tabling this morning. The weather's pretty nice today. And there's an adorable squirrel scampering about near our table. Come out and see us (and our squirrel friend Henry) :) We'll be here until three o' clock today!

List of Florida's Endangered Species

Normally when we think of Florida's endangered species, the Florida Panther is the first that comes to mind, but did you know there are at least 131 different species that are either endangered or threatened in our state? 

Follow this link to see a complete list of the endangered/threatened animals in Florida. By donating, you will be helping Trails for Tails raise the money needed to assist The Conservation Fund in their efforts to preserve these animals' habitats. No donation is too small...or too big! The animals need your help, so please consider donating today. 

Website

Please visit our website at: http://trailsfortails-fgcu.yolasite.com/

We are adding new information all the time, so please check back frequently. We are in the process of adding sponsors, so be sure to spread the word about our great cause!