On a chilly fall afternoon in New York, the world’s premier running event—the 2010 New York City Marathon—brought together 45,000 athletes from around the world to give it their all on the city streets.
For 12 runners, however, the race went well beyond a demonstration of their endurance and athletic prowess—they had spent months preparing for the grueling contest with one overriding goal in mind: to give the poorest children in Liberia a chance to attend school.
These runners were part of this year’s Marathon Madness team and, along with their fervent supporters—many of whom waited at the sidelines to cheer them on—will raise $30,000 to support the crucial work of Concern Liberia.
Liberia, one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa is still recovering from a brutal civil war that left the nation in ruins. Half of Liberian children don’t attend school, a trend that is a serious threat to the country’s long-term recovery. The money raised by the team will help pay for teacher’s training, school equipment, as well as the repair and rebuilding of classrooms, which includes the installation of gender-specific hygienic facilities—a key factor in ensuring the safety and comfort of women and girls.
As with previous years, Concern was able to count on stellar individuals to go the extra mile and raise necessary funds. We were thrilled to have honorary member Georg Gandenberger on the team this year. Georg’s challenge was not in New York but in Hong Kong, at the Taklamakan100—an ultra-marathon race covering more than 60 miles of sand dunes, rocks and very rough trails.
A special thank you goes out to Brendan Donoghue for coaching all of our runners over the last couple of months and to all our volunteers who helped make the day a smashing success. Concern salutes in particular Kieron Crampsey and the staff of The Three Monkeys bar which hosted a fabulous after-party to help the runners, their supporters, and friends
and family celebrate in style.
This year's Marathon Madness Team included:
Patrick Breslin
Megan Christensen
Darren Doherty
Susan Lenihan
Kris Lo Presto
Yannick Martin
Doug Mercado
John Rebuth
James Shannon
Nigel Snoad
Lindsey Thor
Sylvia Wong
