UNICEF and the 2020 NYC Marathon
*2020 was cancelled because of COVID-19, but I will be racing in a future year for UNICEF
What??
That is what I said when I saw that I was accepted to be a marathon runner for UNICEF for the 2020 NYC Marathon. I applied thinking, “oh they wont pick me.”, but two days later I got my acceptance email. Now I am so excited to be going on this journey to running my first marathon, and doing it as a charity runner in one of the big five marathons.
Running History
First I should maybe tell you a little about my running history. I have ran, for fun, since I was in my early teens. It all started when I had to join my middle school’s cross country team so that I could be on the soccer team the next year. It was required you had to join two sports to continue being on any team the following year, so cross country it was. Since then I have ran on and off. I wasn’t till the end of college and after that I really took a big liking to running and decided to join more races, starting with a few 5ks. I have a friend who has done many races throughout the years, including marathons, so I leaned on her for support and information. She also joined me for my first half marathon in 2018 for the BMW Dallas Marathon Weekend. It was her 12th race for that year, my first ever. I loved it! From then I knew I wanted to complete a full marathon some day.
Delays
The next year, for the 2019 BMW Dallas Marathon, I wanted to run my first marathon, but it was not to be. I ended up breaking my ankle in early October and had to not run in the race, even though I had already signed up. I was bummed. The race was also to be the day after my 26th birthday, so I thought it would be fitting to run my first 26 miles, the day after turning 26. I was in a boot for my foot until late November, the race is mid December. During that time with the boot, I ended up traveling to NYC to visit some friends. I was mostly there to celebrate Halloween, but I also happened to be there during the NYC Marathon Weekend right after. Below are some of the pictures I took of the race finish line set up I walked through before the weekend. It was another reminder that I still wanted to run a marathon in my 26th year. I wasn’t until March that I would apply to be a charity runner, and when I saw the opportunity in a UNICEF newsletter, I had to apply. That was probably the only way I was going to be able to get into a big marathon, and I wanted to try. I do have to raise money for the race, I will talk about that below. I can’t wait to be one of the runners I saw the next day walking around Central Park with their medals around their necks.
Training
So I have trained for a long race before, but I feel that a marathon is a little different. I am following a schedule I found online that is a little longer since I am still recovering from my ankle break. The website the schedule is from is called All About Marathon Training and you can find the schedule I am following here. I probably will not follow it to a tee because I am not great at that, but I will try my best. I believe that mostly if I am just consistent with running while incorporating longer distances, I will be fine. I am shooting for a 5 hour marathon or less. That is not far from what I paced for my half marathon. I also have a few things to keep me motivated, including my family and friends. I recently watched Brittany Runs A Marathon on Amazon Prime, and I think that movie is a good motivator. She goes through some tough times, including an injury that keeps her from the race, like me, but eventually runs the NYC Marathon. Besides that, there are other people on social media I follow who have ran marathons that offer good advice. Most importantly I try to keep my main reason why I want to run a marathon ever present in my mind.
Donations
A condition for being a charity runner, that I am happy to fulfill, is raising money for the fantastic organization of UNICEF. As a base, I have a goal of raising $4,000, but I hope to raise that and more. We, the other team members and I, have Go Fund Me Charity pages set up for the race. I am so glad to be a part of UNICEF’s team. They work hard to provide for and improve the lives of children all over the world. I will link their website here, if you would like to find out more about the wonderful work they do. Many children benefit everyday from their efforts. I also use my donations page to make updates about my training, so you can see what I say there about training.
A link to my donation page is below. If you are able to contribute I thank you so much in advance! If you are not able to donate, I ask that you share the link and spread the word. No part of the donations come to me, but go directly to helping UNICEF.