I'm Running the 2020 NYC Marathon -Virtually (i.e, solo)!
This has certainly been a challenging year for all of us.
I've spent most of the last 8 months resigned to a 1,200 square foot Brooklyn apartment -physically cut-off from family and even most local friends. Though I consider myself rather fortunate in comparison, I've lost both work and numerous hobbies -but one thing that has remained mostly intact is my running.
Running has always offered me structure and solace in chaotic times. Since the start of the pandemic last March, I've run more than 650 miles. I thought my marathon days were behind me, but it turns out I've got at least one more in me!
Nothing I have done compares to the mental, physical, and emotional commitment required to train & complete a marathon. Throughout training, you encounter aches & pains, terrible weather, self-doubt, and more but still you push forward -achieving each milestone in preparation for the next. This race will certainly present a unique set of challenges...
This year's NYC marathon -my 5th (3rd in NYC)- will be virtual. No official starting line. No official finish line. No crowd-lined course or adjacent runners offering support & enthusiasm. Solo; just me and the streets of this beautiful City I've called home for the last 15.5 years.
In training for this marathon, at an average pace of 8:30min/mi I’ve run an astonishing 54h15m30s and have burned over 49,000 calories (or, 334 pints of Guinness -my traditional post-marathon toast). By race-end I will have run a total of 383 official miles; ironically, the distance from my Brooklyn apartment to my parents' house outside of Pittsburgh is 382 miles (+1up).
Since 2009, I've raised over $12,000 for prostate & testicular cancers in training for official races (and growing a moustache, of course). Once again this time, I've partnered with Zero - The End of Prostate Cancer. Team ZERO leads the fight to end Prostate Cancer -the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men- by promoting greater awareness for early detection and leveraging public resources for life-saving research and treatments. Some facts about Prostate Cancer:
- Every 16 minutes an American man dies from prostate cancer. That’s a little more than 91 deaths per day and 33,330 this year.
- One in nine American men will have prostate cancer during his lifetime. Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among American men and is the most commonly diagnosed.
- Currently there are nearly 3.1 million American men living with the disease – roughly equal to the population of Chicago.
- Early detection is key; the most recent research shows the five-year survival rate for all men with prostate cancer is nearly 100 percent.
Though it will be tough to face boarded-up storefronts and the ghosts of a former life, glimmers of hope and change have already begun to emerge around us. New York City endured a horrible trauma but as before, its residents came together and carried-on. I'm so proud of this City and I cannot wait to be empowered by that resilience as I run through these streets!
To the moon (and finish line)!
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