Running For Friendship
by MATTHEW STEHL
Best Buddies Pennsylvania
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Heather Marley, Emily Gibson, Jenna Mangion and Rebecca Thompson, members of Team Without Me Its Just Awesome, relax before the start. |
On November 22nd, 2009 twenty thousand chilly runners lined up at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in the shadow of the famous Rocky statue.
With the starters gun and the familiar first notes of the theme from Rocky, they were off. However, 51 runners were running for more than themselvesthey were running to support friendship in Pennsylvania.
Our 51 runners raised nearly $25,000 to help support the 18,000 people BBPA impacts each year. In addition to our runners, Best Buddies had an incredible 45 volunteers, who were awake well before dawn, at water stations on the course, including an amazing 35 volunteers from our Franklin Towne Charter chapter!
Best Buddies Pennsylvania runners were treated to a great weekend of activities including a pre-race buffet dinner on Saturday night.
At the dinner Alex and Rasheed, a Buddy Pair from the nearby Haverford High School chapter, spoke eloquently about what Best Buddies has meant to them and how their friendship has grown.
Rasheed, a student with developmental disabilities, was so excited to talk about Best Buddies that the night before he was working with his Mom and said, I dont know if I have enough to talk about. Well, when he spoke at the dinner he couldnt stop talking about his friendship with Alex and what Best Buddies has meant to him.
On Sunday morning our runners enjoyed complimentary Gatorade and Power Bars before the run of their lives. After the race nearly every runner commented about how when they hit the wall they used Best Buddies as inspiration to push through the pain and reach the finish line.
Best Buddies Pennsylvania will again be an official charity of the 2010 Philadelphia Marathon on November 21st. If you are interested in running for Best Buddies in 2010 please contact Matthew Stehl, State Director at matthewstehl@bestbuddies.org or (215) 569-0069. |
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