Way more than 100 High Impact Men from F3 Nation (including Cointoss, Posse, The Fort, Waxhaw, Suncoast, and many many more) showed out for the Christina Latini Memorial 8K by running, walking, volunteering, donating, and loving on Operation Sweet Tooth and the awesome memories of Christina "Sweet Tooth" Latini. Here is their story:
There are a couple days every year that help to further define F3 Isotope. At the top of the list is the Christina Latini Memorial 8K. This is our race. This race hits home every single year. It is mornings like today that new pax get to see our heart and soul on full display and the pax that remember the events that spawned this race get to lift up the memory of Sweet Tooth and the awesome Latini family. Men this is what F3 is all about. If you don't know the history behind Operation Sweet Tooth, please read the below snippet from the OST website:
On the day before she was to receive her Holy Communion, Friday, May 6th, 2016, we lost our daughter, Christina, to a disease called Myocarditis. We have never recovered from this loss, and I am sure we never will. As a parent, losing a child is unfathomable and every day we mourn our baby and question how this could happen to her. To help our grieving process and keep Christina’s spirit alive, we created a non-profit organization called Operation Sweet Tooth. Our mission is to honor Christina by supporting the youth of our community. Our goal is to raise funds, toys, personal items, and school supplies for the children in our community who are sick, impoverished, displaced, homeless, or just need their spirits lifted. It’s of great importance that we turn our pain into purpose, and support children in their times of need, reminding them there are strangers out there who do care. – F3 Olive, Regina, and Michael
Operation Sweet Tooth has so much impact on our local community. In addition to leading school supply and Christmas toy drives for kids, they have provided AEDs for various parks around Huntersville and Cornelius. One of which was used to help save a man's life at a baseball game a couple years ago. They inspire us to give our money, time, and resources to help others. Operation Sweet Tooth was at the center of a fundraising campaign when Speed for Need was founded. F3 Isotope raised over $11,000 to purchase two Speed for Need customized racing chairs. One of those Speed for Need chairs, the pink chair, purchased was named "Sweetness" in memory of Christina. That pink chair has pushed hundreds of women and kids in races that they wouldn't have been able to complete on their own. Sweetness has carried cancer survivors and those still battling. It has carried kids with various special needs. It has carried so many people across so many finish lines.
Personally, I will never forget that morning at Man Maker Monday that followed Sweet Tooth's passing. It was one of those gloomy mornings where it wasn't a choice to post, it was an obligation to a brother. It was a morning where F3 showed up. Showed up for a brother in need. Showed up for a family in need. Showed up in droves. It didn't matter that we didn't have the right words. It didn't matter if you had a KB or did burpees. All that mattered is that we were there to embrace a brother. We remember and honor mornings like that by showing up on mornings like today.
Thank you to everyone involved this morning. Thank you to Olive, Regina, and Michael for continuing to turn pain into purpose and including us in their lives. We are honored to support you. Thank you to all the volunteers, OST Board Members, runners, donors, and supporters. You make a huge difference for an organization that does so much for our community. It is so humbling to be involved with such an awesome group of people this morning that showed up because they care to make a difference.
(Please let me know if you should be added to the pax above. YHC posted from memory so please please please post in the comments and YHC will add you in. It was not my intent to forget anyone involved. You deserve to have your name in lights for your efforts this morning)
One final note: The pre-order for the F3 Isotope "Race Reds" tshirt is live on https://f3.mudgear.com/collections/active-preorders/products/f3-isotope-red-shirts-pre-order-september-2022 . As YHC and Auto were finishing our run, a young girl yelled out "Hey those guys are matching." That was two men running side by side in our Race Reds. Just think of 100+ F3 Isotope pax showing up and running in a race all in a sea of red with an F3 on their chest and an Isotope logo on their back. Our community is always watching and they notice the great work being done by F3 Isotope pax. Make it easier for them to see by showing up to our next big race in your Race Reds. Until the next time…
DH