Marathon Countdown
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | October 30, 2006 | Share This
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This Sunday, I’m voluntarily waking up at 5 am to get on a bus to Staten Island, eat breakfast in the cold, throw away 2/3 of my clothes, and run for 4 and a half hours with little more than an iPod and a few Powergels. Like the 36,999 other participants in this year’s New York Marathon, I can’t freaking wait. I’ve been training for 5 months, and finally, I’ve gotten to the very last week when all I need to focus on is sleeping and eating lots of pasta. (woo hoo!) I’ve gone through three pairs of shoes, two knee injuries, one case of running-induced flu, and a LOT of Gatorade to get me to this point - and while there’s a certain glory in saying “I just ran 20 miles, for training”, the real reason that I’m in this thing is to raise money for an amazing program called Sports for Peace. So, while this post isn’t technically about search marketing, I wanted to give some attention to a very post-worthy cause.
Sports for Peace is a soccer program for refugee kids in Somalia. It was established in 1992 as the Elman Sports Club and later adopted by Concern Worldwide. Created as an activity to keep Somalian children out of armed militias, the program has become a place for kids to learn, a place for self-expression, and a vehicle for peace in the Mogadishu community. In addition to giving these kids a sense of solidarity, Sports for Peace covers the cost of each child going to school. Because the program has been such a terrific success, they’re hoping to double its numbers by next year.
Which is where I come in. I’m running the Marathon as a fundraiser for the Sports for Peace program, and this post is a plea to SearchViews readers to help me give back to a really fantastic cause. If you’re interested in contributing to Sports for Peace (it’s tax deductible!) you can do it through my marathon page, here:
www.concernusa.org/marathon/member.asp?id=KZ47
In the meantime, I hope all you New Yorkers can make it to the race - I’m the one getting passed by everyone, in the yellow jersey that says ‘KATE’.
To keep this post peripherally related to search, here’s a cool Google map of the marathon track. See you at the red ‘Finish’ dot!
Topics: Just for Fun |