Touch Foundation at the ING NYC Marathon
November 7, 2010
The 2010 ING NYC Marathon took place on a beautifully sunny yet chilly day. Despite the chill, it could not have been a better day to run 26.2 miles. While people on the sidelines were bundled up, the runners were warming up their muscles for the scenic course that would take them through NYC’s five boroughs.
Out of a total of 45,000 runners from all over the world who ran the marathon this year, 35 runners ran specially for the Touch Foundation and raised over $100,000 collectively to support the training of health workers in Africa. On the Saturday before the race Touch Foundation hosted a pre-marathon breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien where the runners were able to meet each other and swap pre-run pointers. It was a great opportunity to build camaraderie among team members who hail from all over including the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Tanzania, England, Ireland, and Australia. While some were running for Touch for a second time for others, this was their very first marathon. Despite their varied backgrounds and experiences, they all had at least one thing in common and that was the desire to help the Touch Foundation take on the challenge of providing a sustainable solution to healthcare development issues in Tanzania. Some of the runners felt that as gratifying as it is to complete the course after many months of hard training, it is even more rewarding to complete it to help raise awareness and funds for a special cause like the Touch Foundation's.
The Touch Foundation would like to extend a warm appreciation to the runners who ran for our cause this year and congratulations to our fastest runner, Ian Wildgoose Brown, who completed the marathon with a time of 3 hours and 9 minutes! Thank you all so much!