August 13th, 2012 
If you told me two years ago that I would be currently training for the NYC Marathon on November 4, I would have laughed in your face. Although I always participated in sports and tried to keep a healthy lifestyle, working full time throughout college and taking a full time course load of credits kept me from doing anything but my regime to “get up, go to work, go to school, go to bed and repeat”.
(Photo Credit: runwithtfk.org)
After moving to NYC over two years ago, I experienced quite a culture shock. If you didn’t have the money to pay for a cab, you walked. If you couldn’t afford the Park Ave/Madison Ave lifestyle, you had to walk for any public transportation. Soon I became friends with a group of runners, who encouraged me to run my first four mile race in Central Park. Caught up in the cheers of the fans, awestruck over the thousands of runners in NYC and exhilarated by the adrenaline high after reaching that finish line, I was hooked. Soon a four mile running goal became a half marathon, and that led me to the NYC Marathon this fall.
My first four Mile Race and the start of my path to the Marathon (Photo Credit: Ashley Massis)
While writing for Ask Miss A, I have been able to meet many inspirational people in the philanthropy and charity world. While working in fashion and writing for the NYC Chapter of Ask Miss A, I lived in our mission to “look good, and do good”. Which leads us all to mid August, where I have decided to raise money for the charity Team for Kids while training for the grueling 26.2 miles in November.
Team for Kids is a team of volunteers who raise funds for critical services provided by New York Road Runners Youth Programs. These programs combat childhood obesity and empower youth development via running and character-building programs in low-income schools and community centers in New York City, throughout the country and in Africa.
Over 40 thousand runners will cross the GW Bridge (Photo Credit: nycmarathon.org/)
Donations help New York Road Runners Youth Programs to serve over 100,000 children in more than 400 schools and community centers and prevent overweight or obese children from eventually suffering heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic illnesses that lead to health-care costs in excess of $100 billion annually.
Donations go to:
$50 sponsors one child in the Mighty Milers program for one school year
$65 provides a new pair of running shoes for a child
$125 sponsors one child in our Young Runners program for one year
$250 can provide new uniforms for a team of 10-20 kids
Whether you are a runner, have worked with children, or have kids yourself, I hope you will join me to further this great cause!
For further information on Team for Kids, please click here.
