Nate Whiting

Nate actually ran an EXTRA lap and surpassed his running goal with a total of 104 MILES in 23 hours 44 minutes! After finishing his 100.75 miles, he was in 3rd place to finish the race, but there were 2 runners who could potentially run another lap and earn 3rd place. Nate decided to take the risk and pain and walk/jog one more lap (of 3.25 miles) to be sure he finished 3rd and could receive an awesome award of a wooden carved bear! Nate definitely wanted to quit running after he finished his 100 miles, but in thinking about the big picture, he decided it was worth walking & running another hour to run as many miles as he could in the 24 hour ultramarathon time and secure his 3rd place finish! He said, "I really want a bear!!" As a 15 year old, this was an incredible decision and feat to all the other racers present. Person after person congratulated Nate and told us how impressed they were with him, his abilities, his positive attitude, and his endurance. The first place winner is 28 years old and the second place winner is 46 and they are both great athletes who admired and congratulated Nate on his amazing performance. His 3rd place finish was among 47 male runners competing in the 24 hour ultramarathon.

Just as Nate surpassed his running goal, we as a collective group of donors have surpassed our fundraising goal of $10,000!!! THANK YOU! We are so excited to use your donations to provide more continual dental care in Haiti at the Kay Anj Village and community. HHA hopes to hire a Haitian dentist to work one week per month and your donations will also help to pay a dentist's salary, in addition to funds for the dental clinic and supplies.

Donations are welcome throughout this week as we celebrate Nate's amazing race total of 104 miles in under 24 hours! We will continue to share this effort. Nate's local newspaper and television station in Harrisonburg, VA are interviewing him this week and sharing his story as well. We are so happy for more people to know about and support the great work happening with Holistic Haitian Alliance. :)

Nate did it! He ran 100.75 miles (31 laps at this course) in 22 hours and 43 minutes!!! It was amazing, it was so hard, and he is so tired and ready to rest. He's so proud to have achieved his goal and to have your generous support for the children and community at Kay Anj Village. THANK YOU!

It's 2:00 AM and Nate just hit 75 miles!! He's been running in the dark for the last 4 hours, plus a little bit of rain, and he's still doing great! He has slowed down and he's tired, but he hasn't stopped for more than a few minutes at a time to eat, drink, change socks and shoes, and have a quick rest. He found out that if he stops for too long, then his body starts to shut down and he can't get going again. So he's going to just keep moving. He's walking all the uphills and downhills and running the flat trails. Nate's parents are meeting him at 2 points along the loop to walk with him and provide aid. Nate has become famous here at Black Mountain Monster race as "the 15 year old"...everyone is so impressed with him!!
He has plenty of time to finish his 100 miles, even with his walk/jog pace. He has worked so hard!! While most of you are sleeping right now, remember to keep Nate in your prayers for safety and good health.
When you wake up and check on Nate, we hope you'll continue to share this fundraiser! We also have 8 more hours to reach our goal of $10,000 for HHA's dental clinic and dental team!
THANK YOU for all your donations and support!

As of 9:00 pm, Nate is right around 55 miles!!! He completed the first half of his 100 in under 10 hours, and he has 14 hours left to complete the second 50! He is AMAZING! I was able to read him many encouraging comments left on Facebook and texts from supporters, including texts from Debbie and Naomi in Haiti! In fact, we got to show Nate the cutest video of the children at Kay Ang Village running and cheering for Nate! Nate said he felt badly that they had to run! :) I told him that I'm sure they were happy to run a mile for him!

Thank you again for encouraging our Nate (this is his mom Jenny writing this update!). We think he's pretty great - Nate the Great!
It's getting dark here in Black Mountain, NC and a lot of the trail is in the woods, so it really will be dark for him. Continue to send prayers for his safety. He's wearing a headlamp and I just pray that he doesn't twist his ankle.

Please also think of your friends and various communities (church, school, local towns) who may be able to also contribute to this fundraiser and share with them. We hope to still make it to $10,000 as Nate makes it to 100 miles by 10:00 am Sunday! Thank you!

Nate surpassed the quarter mark with 26 miles at the 8th loop (each loop is 3.2 miles) and now he's about to 28 miles as I post. He's doing pretty well. He said there is more trail running than road running than he anticipated. It's hot and the uphills are challenging. But he's still very much on track to get his 100 miles within the 24 hours! He did so well with his first 20 miles that he has lots of room & time to finish the next 80! (At least, those are his thoughts right now!)
Thank you again for your donations to HHA! The kids at Kay Anj Village are also running and we're so grateful to be united with them in this cause.
If you haven't shared this fundraiser yet, could you please share!! We still hope to get to our goal of $10,000 for HHA by 10:00 am tomorrow when Nate finishes his race!