Clearly I have gone crazy because I am doing what I have vowed time and time again never to do. Ever since my days of hiding from Coach Johnson during cross country practice and sick notes to get out of races I thought for sure that running was for lunatics. Turns out...I was right...running is for lunatics and apparently...I am a lunatic.
After spending a bit of time at African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg, South Africa...
I have decided to run the 2009 New York Marathon on November 1 on behalf of ALA and in honor of our IT guru...Sani Iliyasu who passed away in late July, 2009.
Wow, it feels weird to write that because it makes things official. Beyond the obvious reasons for running a Marathon...like the fun of 26.2 miles and the pleasure of waking up at 6am to run in the freezing cold.
A few things are motivating me:
- 1. The amazing promise of African Leadership Academy (www.africanleadershipacademy.org). ALA draws students from all across Africa and beyond, with the goal of developing the next generation of more ethical, intelligent and globally aware Leaders for Africa in all fields ranging from business to politics to social activism to arts..etc. I am hoping that through my effort I can raise awareness and much needed funds to enable ALA to fulfill its mission.
- 2. The inspiring life of the notorious Mr. Sani. Sani, is the architect of ALA's infrastructure and approached life with a sense of honesty un-paralleled in other people I have encountered. He committed himself 100% to everything he got involved with and never compromised himself or his beliefs while pursuing his goals. I hope that I can carry with me lessons from him, including to be more direct, more consistently appreciative, and to not be afraid to be my crazy self!
- 3. The desire to prove that this can be done, I hope that by completing this marathon I will encourage myself and others to keep pushing myself to achieve the impossible!
BUT...I can't do this alone. I will need a community of support in this massive effort! Please help push me through to the finish line by:
- 1. Donating funds to the cause for which I am running: African Leadership Academy via this website http://www.africanleadershipfoundation.org/marathondonate_maryanna.asp Help me to achieve the goal of raising $3,000 for ALA. Any donation you can offer will go a long way towards providing a strong education for the best and brightest of Africa and beyond.
- 2. Providing words of encouragement and (equally as important!) song recommendations for my run play-list! In each of my posts I will continue to expand my running playlist by adding supporter recommended and my own selection of songs to "MVQ's marathon play-list"!
- 3. Joining me on a training run--I do 6-8 mile runs 4x a week and a long run on the weekends. Please join me on one/many of the runs!
- 4. Keeping me on track--Check in with me to see if I am sticking to my training goals...if you catch me slipping you officially have my permission to publicly chastise me/ embarrass me!
- 5. Cheering me on during the race- On that fateful day of November 1 please come to NY to support me by cheering for me, screaming my name, passing me drinks/food, etc. I will especially need encouragement at mile 13, 18 and 22--please support me by being along the course at these points or even jumping in and running with me for a bit! I may not be able to chit chat but I will be ever grateful! I hope to complete the race in about 4 hours and 15 minutes--I will post my approximate locations/times in a later post!
- 6. Checking out this blog and posting/sending me words of encouragement!
I will continue to post here throughout my marathon training--I will include updates on my runs, funny stories, mileage/time postings, play-list updates etc.
I hope to see you here again soon!
-MVQ
P.S.- Bridgerunners must be acknoledged...it is because of their encouragement that I finished the half marathon and I hope to run with a few of them during the full!
