Yo, Karnazes! Check this out!
This story appeared in The Hamilton Spectator on New Year’s Eve. Martin Parnell plans on running the equivalent of 250 marathons in 2010 to raise funds for Right to Play, “a humanitarian organization that uses sport and play programs to improve health, develop life skills and foster peace for children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world.”
The idea came following a cycling trip across Africa (from Cairo to Cape Town) where Parnell encountered and was inspired by thousands of impoverished children enjoying sports despite the economic or political state of their home country.
Martin’s initial plan was to run one marathon for each of the days of the year, but his doctor advised him otherwise. Martin will essentially run five marathons per week thus allowing his body to recover during the two off days. Unlike Dean Karnazes’s logistical nightmare of running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 different States, the majority of Parnell’s marathons will be run on the same route, over and over again, near his hometown of Cochrane, Alberta. The mental challenge of running the same route will only add to the physical demands of this Monumental Effort. Parnell does plan however, on running a few sanctioned races including the Calgary, Boston, Vancouver, Victoria, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and potentially Yellowknife marathons.
On his website, http://www.marathonquest250.com/, Martin Parnell has created a virtual map that will track his progress using a GPS transmitter. In total he will travel on foot a distance of 10, 550 Km (or roughly 6555 miles). The virtual map shows how much territory he could actually cover crossing Canada and the United States. Martin will visit several schools to educate youngsters about Right to Play and hopefully encourage the youth to stay active.
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Gotta run,
Vince
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Wow! That’s amazing. It is incredible what sport can do for people isn’t it. I need to look into Right to Play a bit more. Here’s a suggestion. You should contact this guy and do an interview with him…a podcast that you can share with your readers afterwords. Just a thought.
I will also keep my eyes out for stories of interest.