Purely by accident, Julie and I ran into my friend and relative (a- bazillion- times- removed) Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson the other day at our local Lululemon. It had been a really long time since we'd seen eachother so it was great to catch up.

Nancy and her husband Reed adopted their infant son several years ago - an adorable child named Wyatt  who, at the age of three, began exhibiting the symtoms of autism. Nancy and Reed have devoted most of their time and resources over the last several years to treatments for thier son and Nancy, an Emmy Award winning producer and author started ACT Today, (Autism Care & Treatment), a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families find the resources to help fund treatments like those Wyatt receives.

Nancy has been a runner for years and competed most recently in the LA Marathon.  Combining her exceptional talents as a television producer with her love of running, Nancy has pulled together several events to benefit ACT Today including a group run sponsored by Lululemon and, coming up on May 4th, Wyatt's Run - a 24 hour run in Los Angeles to benefit families dealing with autism.

I have always been impressed and amazed by Nancy's energy level and her ability to make things happen.  It's so incredible and inspiring to see women combining their love of running with their drive to help other people.  She's just amazing.  What's really cool too is that people like Nancy have brought millions of other women into running through "Cause Competion" and their efforts have contributed to the extraoridnary explosion of womens' and girls' participation in the sport over the last 10 years.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, why not join Nancy and crew for Wyatt's run?  She'll be joined by marathoner Shannon Farar-Greifer and Dancing with the Stars' Tom Bergeron along with other celebrities and athletes to help raise money for this worthy cause.

We've got more information on Wyatt's Run in Traxee Events or you can visit the ACT website or you call 818-705-1625 for more information.

Nancy - you're awesome!

• Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

Tags: Cause Running, Charity Running, Act Today, Wyatt's Run, Tom Bergeron, Shannon Farar-Griefer, autism, autism treatment, Nancy Alspaugh-Jackson, Reed Jackson