Bandit got in touch with me last week and asked me about writing a story on the Run For Breath. I thought about it for awhile and I decided to write about the history of the Run For Breath, but before I get into that I am going to tell you about Justin and a life cut way too short. Justin was 16 and my son.
Justin was a very strong minded, very determined kid with a never-say-quit attitude. He loved to work in the garage on his dirt bikes and bicycles. There were a lot of broken tools and broken parts but he was determined to fix whatever it was that needed to be fixed. When he was in the 8th grade he came home and told me a story of how he was the only one in his class to figure out what was wrong with a carburetor. He was real proud and I was too. I knew he always had the knack with tools and for fixing things. Justin and his older brother Blair were real close. They would race each other on their bicycles. They raced BMX bikes. Sometimes Justin would win, but if he didn't he wouldn’t not give up. He tweaked and trained on that bike all week until Saturday rolled around and it was time to race again.
Justin loved football. He was always a big Miaimi Dolphin fan. No one else in the home was, but that was Justin, he walked to his own beat. He played linebacker and safety. He was not the biggest or the fastest or the strongest kid but he had the biggest heart. He never backed down. The last year he played he made the All-Star team as linebacker. I remember how proud he was and how proud I was of him and when we bought his All-Star jacket.
Justin never wasted time. He got the most out of every minute of every day. Justin always talked of having his own bike.
Justin had asthma since he was a baby, and I always made sure his medication was up to date and his doctor appointments were kept. Justin had not had a bad asthma attack since December of 1991. On November 14th I got the call that would change my life and the way I look at things forever. I had been setting up for a swap meet that Friday night and at 11:30 p.m. Justin called and told me he was staying at his best friend Matt's house. That was cool. They had spent the night together many times before without incident.
At 1:15 am Saturday morning November 14th I got a call. Justin was having a bad asthma attack. I told them to call 911. Matt and some of Justin's other friends tried to make it to our house but they only made it 3 blocks and they made the 911 call. Blair and I were there in 10 minutes. The EMTs were on the scene and were leaving for the hospital, we followed. An hour later Justin was gone. They say Justin had an allergic reaction to something and that brought on an acute asthma attack.
I was in shock. There is no pain like the pain of losing a child. If you have not felt it, I cannot explain it. I hope you never experience it. After the funeral, I was talking to two friends of mine, Moe and Jay, and we started talking about producing a memorial run for Justin. The Run For Breath was born. The next 2 years would prove to be lowest, darkest time. The last 6 months Justin and I spent most of our time arguing and fighting, and the guilt ate me alive. He was 16 and wanted to do his own thing. I was a Dad and I wanted him to be safe and to stay away from trouble. We clashed.
The first RFB was held in July of 99. It consisted of only a small poker run. I went through the motions of the RFB but I really was not into it. As time moved on or I should say the days passed, I found myself losing intertest in the things I enjoyed when Justin was with me. I did not want to work. I only took off a week and looking back that was a big mistake, because I did not want to be around people. I did not want to ride or have anything to do with bikes. I was a mess.
People would say they knew how I felt, but I didn't want to hear it. They didn’t know anything. I have always been a spiritual person but I found myself questioning what I believed. I was mad at everyone including God. “This was not supposed to happen to me,” I kept saying until I realized I was being selfish, because it didn't happen to me, it happened to Justin. I knew that Justin would be mad at me for just wasting time, so little by little I scrambled back. It has been a long road, and I still miss him.
The second year (2000) for the RFB I really put all of myself into it. I added a bike show and we started to roll. The bike show that year had only 30 bikes but I was not discouraged. I was more determined to make the show grow.
The 3rd year (2001) the RFB exploded. My wife Sandy joined the team and brought with her new ideas and enthusiasm. My buddy Paul (a.k.a Pablo) told me to contact Mr. Bandit about attending the RFB and I did. Bandit was the emcee that year and the bike show exploded to around 120 bikes!
The RFB was picking up momentum and it started to steam roll. Lee Clemens also attended the RFB that year and he had just lost his son Travis. Lee and I talked and cried a lot that weekend about our losses.
The 4th year (2002), Mr. Bandit again attended and again was the emcee. This time he brought his lovely girlfriend Nyla along. The RFB had grown to a legitmate big time event here in the Charlotte area with a lot of people saying it was the best bike show in the area.
The 5th year (2003) the RFB would do somehting no other bike show in the area and maybe in the country had done. All of the awards would be handmade out of used or discarded motorcycle parts. The bike show contestants could not get over the awards. A new era in the RFB awards had begun, no more trophies or plaques. From now on the awards would be made by people all over the country and some out the country. Mr. Bandit set the standard with his BEST OF SHOW award and continues to set the standard today.
The 6th year (2005) saw the RFB continued to soar. We broke our record for money raised. We raised $9200! Previously the record was $8200. The awards continued to have an impact on the show and the awards turned into a show of their own.
That brings us up to date on the RFB. The 7th Annual Run For Breath “In Memory of Justin Pullin” continued to set the standard in the Charlotte area. We raised over $8000 and had 60 bikes in the show. It was not the biggest show but the quality of the bikes were the best. For the first time ever the RFB introduced Charlotte to a bike build-off. The build-off featured Jeff Clark and his crew from The Cycle Xchange against Russell Smith and his crew from Down South Customs. Both bikes were “Discovery Channel” quality. Russell edged Jeff and his crew out for the award. Thanks guys, you both did a great job!
So that is the story and the history of the Run For Breath “In Memory of Justin Pullin.” So far we have raised over $60,000 dollars for the American Lung Asoociation's “CAMP AIR CARE,” a week long camp that teaches kids how to control and live with their asthma. So far we have sent over 300 kids to camp. The RFB pays for it all. Many kids don’t have the means to attend if not for the RFB. Carmen as spokesman for Camp Air Care told the crowd Sunday, “There is no way to tell how many lives have been saved because of the RFB.”
So that is the story of the RFB, a life cut way too short, a DAD going as low as he could go and finally deciding to turn a tragedy into something that would help kids. The RFB takes a lot of work and a lot of hours, but it is a labor of love.
–STEALTHMAN
