Global Partners was well represented at the 29th running of the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday, October 13, entering participants in all events, managing a booth at the Health & Fitness Expo on Friday and Saturday, and raising over $30,000 so far for our work in East Africa.
“I forgot just how far 26.2 miles is – it’s a long long way to go! It wasn’t the prettiest marathon I’ve ever run, but I made it and in the process raised some money to promote Global Partners’ work,” said David Castenholz, board member of Global Partners for Development.
Global Partners’ booth at the Health & Fitness Expo gave us the opportunity to talk about our programs with runners, walkers, and cyclists who had come from all over the world. And it gave us a chance to figure out how to do it even better next year. Our new Executive Director, Daniel Casanova pitched in to help run the booth and in the process got a further education about Global Partners from many of the Board members, including President Don Harris, President-Elect Dave Stare, Executive Director Emeritus Peter Verbiscar-Brown, Past President David Castenholz, and Board member Jack Steck. It was a fun two days and reminded those of us who go way back about our early days at the Boston and other marathons.
Saturday evening saw all of the participants gather for a Global Partners reunion and “get to know your new Executive Director” pasta party. It was a real treat to come together again in a running for pledges setting, get acquainted again with old friends, eat some great Italian food from a local caterer, and celebrate another great Global Partners event.
Sunday was the big event, or events, we should say. The marathon and 26.2 mile cycling event started at 6 a.m., followed by the half marathon at 7:30 a.m. and the 5K at 8:30 a.m.
Plans are already underway for next year, and we hope you will consider joining us for this fun and important event.
