Steve & Marcus' Run for the
Dream!
Recently Steve & Marcus Childs came to the Dream Society
with the idea to assist our mission by donating the proceeds
from their races to our organization. We are so happy they
chose to run for the dreams of others with disabilities.

Please read their story below to see how you can support the
dream of independence too. Thank you.
In my early twenties I was somewhat of a competitive Tri-athlete. Once I adopted
Nina and Marcus I stopped racing and training, the only thing that did not stop was
my appetite. Over the next decade I tipped the scale at 350lbs+, I thought it was
time to start working out again. I purchased a pair of running shoes at the mall and
went running, I made it a block before I had to stop. How sad, a young man who
competed in Long Distance Tri-athlons, Bike Races, and Road Races is now some
fat guy who can't run a block. About that time the P.E. teacher at Marcus and
Nina's school started a program that every child or parent that walks or runs 5
miles receives a little plastic foot. So I thought it was a great way to include the
kid's, we called them "Nature Walks." My wife Holly also started running, although
all I saw of her during these runs was her back. So Marcus and I where hitting the
pavement as much as we could to see how many little plastic feet we could get, I
guess I have to have a reason to do something. One Thanksgiving we thought it
would be fun to go do a 5K (3.1 miles) run/walk. This was Holly's first race and she
was hooked, we all had a great time. So we started to enter in local 5k races. I
would kid my wife and wonder why the Race Directors did not have a "Fat Guy
pushing his Son in a Wheelchair" division. The local race director, Chris Moling with
DRC Sports and Citrus Road Runners accepted our family with open arms and
would make a "wheelchair" or "personally challenged" division for Marcus. It is truly
amazing to see the most physically capable people be so kind and compassionate
to the least physically capable. We started to see some articles and Interviews
about Rick and Dick Hoyt,a father and son team who race in races and triathlons.
Rick has Cerebral Palsy and his dad pushes him in a wheelchair. If Marcus and I
achieve 1/16 of what they have I will die a fulfilled dad. Once I started reading
about them they showed me "We can do it" and we decided to tackle a half
marathon, guess what the Hoyt's were right WE DID IT! And that was the first thing
Marcus said when we saw our wonderful family at the finish line. Through this
series of events Marcus was becoming very excited about competing in races, the
more challenging they were becoming the more excited he would become at the
finish line. Marcus has Cerebral Palsy and is trapped in a body that does not work,
it brings great joy to me to see him be "Free" when we race and when we cross
the finish line. One night my wife gave me the "Adrian" talk. Rocky would be training
for a fight but not doing well, then Adrian would talk to him and then he would train
correctly and become prepared for the fight. She did not want to hear what I use to
do she wanted to hear what I am doing now, at that point is when I decided to
achieve two goals I had for 15 years, complete a Marathon and an Ironman
Triathlon, but what is better now I will do this with my son Marcus we will do it
together and both will do it not of our own strength.
We have had some hurdles with some race directors (Disney World) but we have
achieved greatness. My company started a Race Team for Nina and Marcus that
we are very proud of. It is funny this all started with the purpose of little plastic feet
and has grown into watching my son be free and achieving our dreams and now we
can race to help others achieve their dreams.

Gary Pearcy joined our Team in the beginning of 2007 and has been a wonderful
asset. He is what I call the "Cerebral Speed" of our Team, he is smart and fast.
Gary is married with three children,is the Curriculum Specialists at Crest School,
Teaches a class at CFCC and he is working on his doctorates degree and he finds
time to train and race. He will be completing a Marathon and the Ironman with us in
2008.
Please contact us for the pledge form to assist
Steve, Marcus, and the Dream Society in
achieving their dreams.