Nov 03, 2009
The world's slowest marathoner, an Indian celebrity and 50 runners participated in the ING NYC Marathon while raising MS awareness and more than $210k
New York, NY – Zoe Koplowitz, world-record holder for longest time to finish a marathon, completed her 21st ING New York City Marathon after 28 hours and 45 minutes. Also running to raised MS awareness was Milind Soman, an Indian actor and model, and 50 Run to Stop MS participants from the New York City - Southern New York Chapter of the National MS Society. To date, the Run to Stop MS team has raised more than $210k in support of the Society’s critical research initiatives and the hundreds of annual programs and services the chapter provides people living with MS, their friends and family.
Zoe Koplowitz, 61, is an award-winning author and motivational speaker living with MS who has completed 20 NYC marathons while using crutches. She once took more than 33 hours to complete the marathon, setting a world record for the longest marathon finish time in the history of women’s running, and is also the first woman with MS to compete in 20 consecutive marathons and to finish in last place. Diagnosed with MS at age 25, Koplowitz has participated in the NYC Marathon since 1987, and is accompanied along the route by friends, supporters and members of the Guardian Angels.
Zoe Koplowitz completing the final steps of the 2009 ING NYC Marathon.
Born in Scotland, but raised primarily in India, Milind Soman, 43, is an Indian icon having appeared in numerous television programs and movies. Soman is a dedicated supporter of MS education and research and is running in the 2009 ING NYC Marathon to support the MS Society of India. “I aspire to improve the quality of life for persons living with MS all over the world,” he said.
Pictured above are Zoe Koplowitz (left) joined at the finish line with Milind Soman.
Since 2002, more than 175 marathon runners have been members of the New York City - Southern New York Chapter’s Boston, Chicago and NYC Run to Stop MS team. Together, they have raised more than $600,000. This year’s ING New York City Marathon Run to Stop MS team is comprised of 50 individuals who have raised more than $210,000 to date toward creating a world free of MS so far. To donate or for more information, visit www.runMSnyc.org.
About the New York City – Southern New York Chapter
The New York City – Southern New York Chapter of the National MS Society is committed to helping the nearly 10,000 people affected by multiple sclerosis in the five boroughs and Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Putnam, Orange and Sullivan counties continue moving their lives forward. The chapter raises funds locally to support the Society’s critical research initiatives and to provide hundreds of comprehensive support services and educational programs for people living with MS, their family and friends.
About the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
MS stops people from moving. The National MS Society exists to make sure it doesn’t. We help each person address the challenges of living with MS. In 2008 alone, through our national office and 50 state network of chapters, we devoted over $148 million to programs that enhanced more than one million lives. To move us closer to a world free of MS, the Society also invested over $45 million to support 440 research projects around the world.
About Multiple Sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis, an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, interrupts the flow of information within the brain and between the brain and the rest of the body. Every hour in the United States, someone is newly diagnosed with MS. Symptoms range from reduced or lost mobility to numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis. The progress, severity and specific symptoms of MS in any one person cannot yet be predicted, but advances in research and treatment are moving us closer to a world free of MS. Most people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50, with at least two to three times more women than men being diagnosed with the disease. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and 2.1 million worldwide.