Turning Pain into Passion
I'm running all eight World Marathon Majors in 2027, chasing my second Abbott Six Star medal. I ran my first marathon in 2023 and finished my first Six Star in London this year. Now I'm going again, all in one calendar year, from Tokyo in March to New York in November.
This is round two. My first Six Star was all for Team End ALZ, an organization fighting Alzheimer's and dementia, and I raised more than $100,000 for it. The 2027 Team Eileen Global Challenge is different. I'm doing it with my brother Andrew, my personal cameraman, content creator and partner. He's capturing the entire journey and producing it as a 12-month series. Two brothers traveling the world, making memories, and bringing real money to organizations that make a significant impact.
This time I'm running for several charities. In North America I run for the Alzheimer's Association, where I'm a proud board member of the Connecticut Chapter. Around the world I run for other causes too: Livestrong in Tokyo and Berlin, which supports people affected by cancer, Whizz Kidz in London, which supports young wheelchair users, ZERO Prostate Cancer in Cape Town, and Alzheimer's Research UK in Sydney, because it's important to support more than one organization. Every race still raises awareness for Alzheimer's.
We lost Mom in November 2025. Our final race, New York on November 7, 2027, falls the day before the second anniversary of her passing. Pain doesn't have to stay pain. Given somewhere to go, it becomes passion. Most importantly, I'm still running for Mom.
Andrew & Doug