 So my name is Jeremy France and today is the day that I will be running my version of the 124th Boston Marathon this year. As everybody knows, we have to run it virtually, unable to gather, you know, as they have in all the years past. But we're here to make the most of it and make sure that we finish what we started back in November when I was signed up for representation of the Pedro Martinez Foundation. We went through a lot of effort to raise the money needed to go to such a great cause and today is kind of the conclusion of all of that effort. I'm just incredibly honored to have the opportunity to represent such a fine organization, represent my family, represent my hometown of West Park, Massachusetts, as well as my friends up here in New Hampshire. Weather seems to be holding up nice and I'm just truly blessed to be able to show up for life today. About a week and a half ago, I got a small box and this is in there with a thank you card from the Pedro Martinez Foundation. Really no explanation, just a thank you. So super blessed, went along with the card that I got sent in April for raising the most money in March. So these will be with me forever. And an opportunity to go to a lot of baseball card shows with my father growing up so we were able to get Carl Yastramski honored to get Ted Williams. This one's pretty cool. This is Sparky Anderson and we were at an old timers game in Fenway way back when we were by the visitors dugout and all these guys were all there yelling Sparky, Sparky sign my ball. So I made my way up front and I said, Mr. Anderson, would you please sign my ball when he came right over and signed mine only and walked away. And then the two biggest all stars, this is my brother and I, back in Little League. All right, so this is cool. This is a very good friend of mine, Ricky, brought me these pictures up and this is Jackie Robinson stealing home base in the World Series against the Yankees and there's Yogi Berra. The best part about this picture is my buddy Ricky's grandfather, it's Bill Summers the umpire. So you can see here, Yogi, not too pleased that he called him safe. Some stories that I've heard till his dying day, he claims he had him out. Real cool to get these pictures and that same gentleman, Ricky, good friend of mine, he's battling Parkinson's and he says, you ever have a bad day, you roll the dice, see what comes up. It's always got. So yeah, I'm just going to be packing up all my drinks, my snacks and got my spare set of shoes so we should be in pretty good shape. When I started running a couple years ago, I had just a pair of workout shoes, just basic cross trainers and after I got some miles in, I decided to buy some running shoes and I went down to the Nike store and legit just picked out the ones that were the lightest and fit the best and since then, this will be my third pair, Air Pegasus. So these are the ones I wore in New York for the New York City Marathon in 2019. These were going to be the ones I wore for Boston in April, they've got a few miles on them now so they're kind of just my warm up shoes. Got my Garmin which is synced up to the app that the Boston Athletic Association provided to track our time and our mileage. So we got all our drinks pre-made, our regular water as well, so we're going to need all that. We've got these energy chews and some energy waffles and we also have our gels. So these will be in my pocket of my shorts as I run and they kind of just give you a little bit of a burst. This is given an opportunity for my parents to be able to kind of run with me along the route. Obviously they'll be in their vehicle and they'll be the kind of my primary source of handing out water and encouragement. For all of those that are taking advantage of this opportunity to run the virtual experience, I applaud them and it just shows what type of determined group of people go into doing something like this. The day may come where I have an opportunity to run from Hopkins to Boston, but regardless I'm still representing the ones I love, the foundation that Pedro and his wife Carolina put together and I'm also representing the group of people out there that may at one point in their lives felt hopeless and lost. I've had an opportunity these past few years to make some changes and show that there is hope and there's life out there even when you think that there isn't. And the key to all of that is just willingness, willingness to change, willingness to understand that life can get tough, but you're never alone. And I'll have all of those that are still out there sick and suffering on my mind when I run along with those that are no longer with us. So when things really start to get tough, I'm going to have to remember that I'm fortunate enough to actually be able to do this and there's a lot of people out there that aren't. So we're going to make the most of it and hopefully be home in time to watch the paths kick off. My opinion it's the culmination of 10 years of hard work for Jeremy. If anyone's familiar with Jeremy's history, we know that he's a recovering alcoholic and from where he was 10 years ago to where he is now is just incredible. From where 10 years ago, every time the phone rang, oh no, what is it now? To see him do something like this is just a huge moment for our family. I'm very proud of him. It's just it's it's great honor to just be doing this with him and just being together as a family and supporting him because he's worked really hard for this and his inspiration for us and a lot of other people. I've never physically challenged myself anything compared to this, but my biggest challenge in life is I adopted Jeremy and his brother Jason and becoming a father out of the blue had a challenge for a number of years. It's one of those things. If I could do it over again, I think I could be great. But when Jeremy had all his troubles, I can remember one time when he had to go to court and he was sentenced to 60 days in jail and watching him be taken off. I thought I had failed him as a father and it's just being a father, not from day one was a challenge. Should be good. Love you. You'll be fine. Yeah, it'll be fun. Yeah. Remember, kickoff is at one o'clock. Yeah, I know, I know, I know. Thanks for coming little buddy. Love you. So Jeremy, how are you feeling? I'm gonna see if that spins. It's still good for him. No, he's getting close to the halfway point. He may want to short. Spacey, still good, Jeremy? Yeah. Stretch, even though it's a little bit of a long of a homesick. Fear for me and failure a lot of times are a blessing. Had I not walked through fear and failed throughout the course of my life, I wouldn't have grown and had an opportunity to see where I could do better. You know, when it comes to anything that you're doing, whether it's something at work, something personal, you have to understand that there's always going to be a level of imperfection. And the best thing that I can do is take those experiences, learn from them and move to the next. I don't worry about, you know, what's going to happen next, what happened in the past. I try to focus on the present, knowing that, you know, those slip ups, those mistakes, those things that have happened, you know, they already took place. And if I'm doing the right thing, then I've drawn from those experiences, you know, the lessons to improve. For me, there really is no failure. You know, whether I come in in three hours or I come in in six hours, I'm going to come in and finish, you know, what I started for this particular event. You know, the simple fact that I'm in a position today to do this is a victory. Those who knew me a decade ago knew that, you know, getting out of bed, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, the things that, you know, a normal person would do, you know, were beyond my reality. So to get up this morning at four, prepare to run a whole bunch of miles for such a great cause, to me, it doesn't matter, you know, if I end up having to crawl across, you know, the virtual finish line, it's 100% a victory. This is where you can't feel your feet. Legit. My mind is way ahead. The body is starting to shut down a little bit from the knees down. But we're so close. They're going to stop me. God bless everybody. We'll be trying to ourselves. Life is good. Love you. I'm just incredibly grateful, you know, to be here at the finish line. You know, this whole journey has been about we, not me. And, you know, to have my mom and dad and my brother and nephews here, along with a few loved ones that chose to come out, it just kind of puts a really special bow tie on what it was I was looking for out of this. And, you know, how good it feels to be able to put maximum effort and constant correction into a great cause like the Pedro Martinez Foundation. I'm so proud of everybody who helped me, you know, raise the funds necessary to get a bib this year. Forgive me, it's just kind of all hit me. It was a time in my life when, you know, it was impossible to take care of myself. To be able to do what I've done for other people is, that's where I get the most satisfaction. So, super proud. Hey, Pedro and Carolina. I just want to thank you for the opportunity that you gave me to represent your foundation. I hope I did it with dignity and integrity and honor. I couldn't think of a better foundation and a better icon, you know, to be affiliated with. You were one of my heroes, you know, growing up and, you know, I drew a lot of strength out there today on the course, knowing that you would do the same. I'd love an opportunity to run again next year, so if you're in, I'm all in. Love you, God bless.