NYC Marathoners Organize to Aid Staten Island

forbes.com | Nov 3rd 2012

Once the New York City Marathon was cancelled, a group of New York City marathon runners decided to turn their personal loss of not being able to compete into a much bigger win by organizing volunteers to help the storm-ravaged communities on Staten Island, the race’s starting point. “Let’s put these legs and healthy spirit to good use,” says the group’s Facebook page.

“A bunch of runner friends started e-mailing about running to raise money,” explains one of the organizers, Dr. Jordan D. Metzl, a runner/doctor of sports medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery. “We were all in the Marathon and felt badly it was cancelled, but we also really wanted to help.”

The initial plan is to meet at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and launch a run to distribute food and supplies both in relief centers and door to door throughout Staten Island. Runners of all levels are welcome to participate. The group welcomes any donations from food and clothing companies as well. Organizers request that participants wear orange-colored clothing if possible to make identification easier. They also ask participants to bring their own backpacks stocked with the following items:

Non-perishable food

Pet food

Flashlights

Trash bags

Infant Formula

Warm Clothing

Baby wipes

Batteries

Pre-paid cell phones

“We all felt so badly about the aftermath of hurricane Sandy,” says Metzl. “The running community has a long history of supporting charitable causes and as soon as the race was cancelled, we came up with this idea. We’re really excited about turning a negative into a positive.”

Please visit the group’s page for updates. Others who wish to help can donate to the American Red Cross.

Original Page: http://www.forbes.com/sites/lauriekahle/2012/11/03/run-for-life/

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