balexhowe

Austin was able to raise $98,000 during the Show Us Your City Spirit Rally and to recognize their fundraising effort, we posted a video message from Lance on www.livestrongchallenge.org. Thanks to all the cities for participating and we can’t wait for each event!

Former LAF’er Nicki Borgstandt sent me an email this morning that she wanted to share with everyone. I found the story very touching and reminded me of why I started to wear my LIVESTRONG wristband the same summer, due to my grandfather battling the disease. Her story from Brazil is below.

In Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, just outside the main part of the city, there lies a church called Senhor do Bonfim. It is impossible to visit Salvador without at least learning about/hearing of this church, as t-shirts, skirts, bags and ribbons all bear its name. The ribbons are of particular interest, as tradition indicates that upon visiting the church, one makes a wish (or prays to Senhor do Bonfim) and leaves one ribbon tied to the fence of the church, while tying the other – in three knots – onto his or her wrist to wear until it breaks.
 
On my last day in Salvador, I went to visit the church. I expected to experience something touristy and memorable, and instead I experienced so much more. Upon arriving at the church, the site of the fence covered in colorful ribbons was beautiful. But what really hit me was a room in the back, just to the right of the altar. All four walls of that room – and even the ceiling – were covered with offerings to Senhor do Bonfim. There were fake legs, arms and hands displaying ribbons, hanging from the ceiling. There were notes, cards and drawings – most in Portuguese – pleading for help or offering thanksgiving on the walls. And there were pictures – hundreds of them – of people seeking help. There were photos of people who had been in accidents, of newborn babies on respirators, of breasts and heads and other close ups of body parts that I couldnt help but assume were cancerous. And there were hundreds of snapshots of people young and old from all walks of life.
 
I suddenly became overwhelmed and was brought to tears. I realized that this church, this saint, this sacred spot gave hope to the hopeless. 
 
And then I looked down at my left wrist. On it is my LIVESTRONG wristband, the same one that I have been wearing since my Grandpa was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2004 (the summer that they came out). Then the images on the walls surrounding suddenly reminded me of the tribute wall from the Challenge Mission Booth and the walls that decorated our office with letters from people that Lance and the LAF had inspired. And at that moment I realized that the Lance Armstrong Foundation provides to people the exact thing that Senhor do Bonfim does – hope and inspiration, something to believe in. The ribbons of Bonfim were like the LIVESTRONG bands.
 
As I exited the church, I pulled one ribbon – a white one – out of my bag. I took off my LIVESTRONG wristband, tied the ribbon to it and then tied the ribbon to the fence. My offering – the memory of my Grandfather, the two years of my life I devoted to the LAF as an employee – joined the offerings of so many others.  I then tied the second ribbon – a yellow one, of course – to my wrist, making not a wish, but a prayer – for my Grandfather and for everyone affected by cancer.

With the new year, we decided to revamp our blog efforts. The new design and layout will be rolled out in the coming days. So if you see some weird things going on, we are aware of them. The comments will be turned off starting this morning at 9am CST, followed by some of the other changes.

We are adding more ways for everyone to be able to interact with us, follow us, and be a part of us. You will be able to tag videos on YouTube that will be able to be shown on our site, as well photos in Flickr, and get comments posted on our site through Twitter. We are going to make the blog a one stop shop to be able to fully interact with us.

Along with all the new interactions, we will be adding a lot information about Lance’s upcoming races. From routes, to dates, to where you can see them on TV. Starting with the Tour Down Under and carrying us all the way through the Tour de France.

Ever wanted to know more about the ones who blog the most? We got that covered as well. Bios and photos are coming too! Want to know what some of the upcoming LAF events are? Guess what? We will now have a calendar that you can check to see how you can get involved.

So check back in the next few days, and check out the new LIVESTRONG Blog.

Back in December we mentioned the Nike Give 100% contest. The top 10 finalists have been announced, and we would like your input to help determine the winner. Read their stories and vote for the finalist who inspires you most. Giving 100% embodies strength, commitment and courage. You can cast a vote every day. Voting ends on 1/23.

Last night Lance was in San Francisco at the Web 2.0 Summit. Below is the keynote he gave. It is about 40 minutes long, but well worth it in which he talks about a range of subjects including Twitter, Brett Favre, his comeback to cycling and even LL Cool J. So check it out.

I just wanted to give everyone a quick update….

You can now follow Lance on Twitter. After we got Doug hooked on it ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú he got Lance excited about the idea and he has now officially joined.

What is Twitter you might be asking? Well twitter is a new social media technology. Like blogging it offers any person the opportunity to publish their thoughts to the world. The difference with Twitter is that it is defined as micro blogging ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú meaning every post is 140 characters or less.

You don’t have to sign up to follow Lance or Doug.

www.twitter.com/lancearmstrong
www.twitter.com/livestrongceo

But it is a lot more fun if you do….

In the coming days I am going to be working on getting Lance’s feed up on the blog ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äú just like Doug’s is now. So keep an eye out for that. You will also notice the new links for “ShareThis” and “TwitThis”. Those tools are there to help readers share what they are reading on our blog with other websites that they may use, as well as allowing people to email blog posts. We are working to make the blog a more interactive place to share the things we are working on.

A few members of the LIVESTRONG Army are gearing up to run the NYC Marathon this year. These six runners, who range in age from 21 to 60, are participating in the marathon to raise awareness about this deadly disease, while honoring their friends, family and even their own battles with cancer.

They are also members on LIVESTRONG.com and you can read their stories, becomes friends with them, and track their progress from now until race day.

Read the six runners stories.