The Marathon On The Horizon

I'll be running the 2008 ING NYC Marathon in support of The Children's Tumor Foundation. The Children's Tumor Foundation.is a non-profit 501(c)(3) medical foundation, dedicated to improving the health and well being of individuals and families affected by neurofibromatoses (NF). NF is a set of distinct genetic disorders that cause tumors to grow along various types of nerves. In addition, NF can affect the development of non-nervous tissues such as bones and skin. My extended family has a very personal connection to this disorder, as my 11 year-old-cousin, Lauren Loose, has been meeting the challenges of neurofibromatosis her entire life. Her courage, strength and amazing sense of spirit has been a huge inspiration to me over the years and especially throughout my training for this event. I'm so happy to be able to raise awareness and money for this important cause through participating in this year's marathon!



The success of my fundraising efforts depends in part on your generosity. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation to my Marathon Run for NF, please follow the link to...

MY NF FUNDRAISING PAGE: http://www.active.com/donate/nfnewyork2008/runowenrun

It is a completely secure and an easy way to make a contribution. Plus you'll get to see fun pictures of me running and a nice picture of me with cousins Lauren and Grace from this summer. A donation of any size would be greatly appreciated. If you prefer not to donate online, you can also send me a check made out to "The Children's Tumor Foundation" at the following address:

Owen Panettieri
21-38 31st St. 2S
Astoria, NY 11105

Even if you cannot donate at this time, thank you for support and well wishes. I will be sending updates as the race gets closer, so you can track my progress online the day of the race. Or you can come out and cheer me on in person! I have included some more informative links below if you would like to hear more about Lauren or The Children's Tumor Foundation.

If you would like to learn more about Lauren's Story you can read all about her current updates at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/laurenloose

There is also a website for the incredible non-profit football camp that her parents have set up in Lauren's name: www.laurensfirstandgoal.org

And if you would like to learn more about the work CTF does, you can visit their website as well.
www.ctf.org

Legally Brown: Hunter's Condition

I love Hunter. This was fun. Enjoy!

I still love you, Rafa!

Dearest Rafa,

I'm sure you're disappointed about not making it to the US Open Finals this year. I am sad for you. But let's face some facts. It's HARD to win 3 majors in one year on three different surfaces PLUS win the Olympic gold. You and I both know you were tired coming into this Open. You played so well, but I could tell you were... well, I wouldn't say "weakening" but you and I both know that if you want to beat the top players you have to keep digging deep, and there just wasn't that much deeper left for you to dig against Murray this weekend. You need some rest, papa. You've earned it. And let's stop for a second and take stock of this year's accomplishments. Still undefeated at Roland Garros! A Wimbledon victory in what might be the greatest match ever played! Olympic Gold! Plus, you've made your best showing to date at the US Open and the Australian Open as well. 8 tournament titles and a #1 ranking in the world. All that ain't exactly chump change.

I'm glad I got to see you practicing while I was at the US Open on Labor Day. It was such a treat. Best of luck at the Davis Cup match in two weeks (I hope you win your matches, but ultimately Spain should lose to USA. Go USA!) and then there is the end of the year tourney still for you to try and dominate.

Even though I'll be seeing you less on the television this fall, and missing you muchly,I will still be loving you with the same level of intensity. Maybe even stronger. If that's possible.

Love Always,

Owen

Legally Brown is Online!

I am excited to report that Legally Brown: The Seach For The Next Piragua Guy is up on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. It's been very rewarding to work on this from behind the scenes and see it actually be put out there for public consumption. Written by me and Lin-Manuel and starring a whole parade of awesome Broadway Actors it is our loving spoof on the Legally Blonde Reality Show and on reality competition shows in general. I don't consider myself a good auditioner which is probably why I don't like doing it and that is ALSO probably why i don't do as much acting work as I would like. I find the very idea of auditioning over the course of several weeks on a nationally televised show to be a rather horrifying. While I enjoy watching these competition shows on TV it is beyond me why anyone would actually want to be a participant. Sure I guess it's a quick way to open doors for you, and a certain amount of the population will always be fame-whores who will do anything for attention. But i think most people by now should know that most people don't come off looking good by the time they lose, and it's not that easy to expand your 15 minutes of fame beyond the season you appear on. Hell, there are people on American Idol who were in the top 24 (or even top 10) than i couldn't remember having ever seen or heard by the time they got trotted back out on stage for the Grand Finale. But people keep auditioning for stuff in front of America, and I keep tuning in. And now with this project, those gluttons for punishment have become a sort of artistic inspiration. There will be more Legally Brown clips coming in the future. I hope you enjoy.




You should also go to this youtube link and then check out usnavi's other youtube clips because they are all really funny and worth your time. Enjoy!

numero uno

Today, Rafael Nadal finally secured the number one ranking in the ATP. I am very happy for him. I fell in love with Rafa years ago, during his first French Open, which he won (and continues to win every year). Along with this year's French Open, he conquered Wimbledon and won Olympic Gold. I have had many tennis crushes in my life, and while Agassi still probably takes the cake with his longevity in the sport and his American Pride, Rafa is quickly giving Aggie a run for his money. I can talk about Rafa's unbelievable skill and tenacity on the court, all day long. He's the perfect adversary for Roger Federer. They are both amazing yet very different, except when it comes to how respectful they are of each other. Rafa just keeps getting stronger and stronger and I hope he stays healthy to battle for the title in this year's US Open and next year's Aussie Open. I really think he could get the Career Grand Slam over the next few years. If you have not seen this guy play tennis you have to check out his matches in the US Open which starts next Monday. His play is exhilarating. And his arms are massive! Dude, he's the best. And the rankings now fully support that fact!

Rafa, we may never meet, but you had me at "Vamos!" Keep taking a bite out of those trophies!

Race Day: A Reflection

So today was the Half-Marathon! It was a great experience. Though we did have an early morning thunderstorm while waiting in the runner corrals, I managed to stay dry and the heavens were kind enough to let the sun come out for the entirety of the actual race. The race was a challenge but really really fun. The highlight was running down 7th avenue from 57th to Times Square, which is an area i walk around a lot, but in this instance,, i got to run in the middle of the street and disregard all traffic signals, which is normally what i feel inclined to do to avoid the tourists. At long last, a dream fulfilled! :) My overall time was 2:05:50 and my pace was 9:36/mile. That was a bit better than my anticipated pace of a 10 minute mile. And while I was extremely tired at the end, my body held up well and I felt like I still had a couple more miles left in me. :)

Before I sign off about the half-marathon, several thank-you's are in order. I would like to thank everyone who donated to my charity run to support the Organization for Autism Research. I managed to exceed my $1.000 fundraising goal, and I'm thrilled and amazed that I could raise that in just a few weeks' time. I'd also like to thank everyone that sent me messages of support - it was a huge motivator to keep me headed toward my goal. I need to thank my Dad for coming to see me at the finish line and for finally bringing me that air condition he promised me long ago, so I won't be sleeping in a puddle of my own sweat during the next heat wave. I also have to give a special shout out to Lin-Manuel for letting me stay at his place in Manhattan last night so the N train wouldn't have the opportunity to screw me over with shoddy service as it has done on several other early morning race days. A special mention must go to this very nice runner who offered me a lift in her cab across the park when it started to rain around 5:45 this morning. And a thank you to the two trees in Central Park I stood under during the thunderstorms. You kept me dry and you were not struck by lightning, so good work.

I'm sure I'll be extremely sore in the morning, but right now I feel really good.

Nadaledon

Wow. Rafa did it. He won Wimbledon! It took all day. I literally was watching it from like 9:30am until almost 4:30pm. There were delays for rain mixed in, but still it was almost 5 hours of A-game tennis from the two best players in the world. It was an amazing match. Just look at the score 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8), 7-9. Incredible. I was rooting for Rafa, and he had many chances, but somehow as the match went on, I believed less and less it would happen for him. I still hoped and wished and called out to Grandma in The Heavens, but I thought Roger would somehow pull away. I had seen this all before last year. Nadal was physically stronger, but Federer just couldn't be broken mentally. Going into the 5th set with Fed having the better serving order, I just didn't see how Nadal was going to succeed. But Nadal was just an inch more amazing than Federer. It was so intense. Really great stuff.

Poor Fed. My heart goes out to him. He's probably the best player ever and this has been a hard year for him. He's such a classy guy though and such an amazing athlete. Now that Rafa has won Wimbledon, I think I can finally root for Fed to win at Roland Garros, so he can get his much sought after Career Grand Slam.

I'm not expecting a ton from Rafa at the upcoming US Open in the end of August. Rafa is really more of a threat in the first half of the calendar year on clay and grass than he is on the American hardcourts. I will never count him out, but i also wouldn't mind if he rested those knees a bit during the grueling hardcourt season.

Congrats, Rafa. You earned it. Thank you for an amazing Wimbledon viewing experience. You're the champ!