The New York City Marathon was a huge challenge for EJ Scott, even though it started out to potentially be a real “winner for him.” There was going to be a lot of press coverage and even an appearance on Anderson Cooper.
EJ and Deborah Ann Woll (his girlfriend) flew into NYC right after hurricane Sandy and surprisingly found little problem getting there, but as time went on, unfortunately, because of the unbelievable havoc caused by Hurricane Sandy, which took place just before, the marathon would be cancelled.
But…that’s not the end of the story!
EJ learned of the cancellation by text at about 6pm Friday night. He writes:
The texts said the marathon was cancelled. It’s about 6pm Friday night. My heart sank, my stomach dropped. I looked up an online article and sure enough it was cancelled. Due to a huge backlash of people demanding that the resources be used to help the victims of Sandy.
I imagined all the poor euro out of town and other countries that were screwed, the businesses that were closed all week that were hoping for a busy day on Sunday, the money that was going to be put back into the city, not to mention the hundreds of charities that were being represented and the thousands or millions that those charities were not going to get now. Including my own Choroideremia research foundation.
I knew I needed to run anyway. I started thinking about other marathons to run. I looked some up online, I was thinking georgia, Pennsylvania, north carolina something. But I was also thinking of running 26.2 miles in new York as well. Because I said I was going to do it. When I say something I really do try to follow through. Especially with something like this. For charity!
My whole message is don’t quit, no excuses, be strong. I decided to run for Sandy victims, too, but it turns out I was not the only person thinking these things.
EJ ran his marathon anyway, with a group called, “Runanyway.” He was closer to his goal than ever and was able to keep his promise to run a full 12 marathons in 2012. Read the rest of the fascinating NYC story at EJ’s Maraton Blog: ejcurechm.
Below are some photos from EJ’s run:
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EJ is losing his eye sight from an eye disease called Choroideremia. It runs in my family. Other members have it and his grandfather went blind from it. Please consider giving to EJ’s charity, The Choroideremia Research Foundation by donating using the button below:’