Please read my story!! Thank you!!  

** Please do not share or post on social media. Thank you for understanding. **

I'm running the NYC Marathon with Team ALS on November 3, 2024 to raise funds that will support individuals and families affected by ALS.  Your donation today will help ALS United Greater New York fund resources and services to the local ALS community, help find new treatments, and move us closer to a world without the disease. 

MY WHY: 

More in particular and my experience with ALS, I am running for my big brother Dan. He was diagnosed with this scary disease in February 2024. Our family is devastated and don't understand why. We do know that we are all willing to do whatever it takes to help and support him and fight this journey together. 

I began running Marathons after I graduated college. Prior to that, I strongly disliked running but very quickly developed a love for it. My brother Dan lives in NYC and lives on a street where the New York City Marathon runs directly by his place. Since I began running marathons, Dan would say to me often in a joking yet serious manner, "If  you get into the NYC Marathon, I will buy your plane ticket out here." Once he was diagnosed I thought, this is my time to run and make both of our wishes come true. 

Dan has lived in NYC since 2002. Since then, he has created a beautiful family in Brooklyn. He has a wife, Stacey and 2 amazing daughters, Olive (11) and Mila (9). He is so adored and loved and is the highlight of their lives. Dan is important and cared for by so many family and friends. He is not alone in this journey and has so many people walking through this journey with him. Dan is probably one of the nicest, kindest and  most gentle person you will ever meet. So lets do this, lets help him and do it together!

Family is very important to us whether it is immediate or extended. We all love and love deeply during trying times or celebratory times and are all very close. I am running this marathon with my cousin Christopher who also lives in New York just a few blocks from Dan. It was comforting when Christopher moved to New York as well so they had family close by. They have always been close but their relationship turned more than just cousins, along the way, they became best friends. Luckily for our family, Christopher is a genetics doctor and is willing to do anything to find a cure for ALS and help Dan. He is willing to study and research and is excited to raise money while running the NYC Marathon with me. 

So that is my story and why I am so passionate with running this race with the ALS team. I am doing it for my brother. I can't wait to make a difference and also see his face and our families as Christopher and I are running for a cure. Thank you.

** For the respect and privacy of my brother, please do not share or post on social media. Thank you for understanding. **

~ Christie 

Facts & Infomation on ALS: 

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive disease of the nervous system that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. 

• Every ninety minutes, someone is diagnosed with the disease, and someone passes away from it.
• 90% of ALS cases occur without any known family history or genetic cause. The remaining 10% of ALS cases are inherited through a mutated gene with a known connection to the disease.
• 55 is the average age of onset with most people who develop ALS between the ages of 40 and 70. However, cases of the disease do occur in people in their twenties and thirties.
• ALS is 20% more common in men than women. However, with increasing age, the incidence of ALS is more equal between men and women.
• Military veterans are twice as likely to be diagnosed with the disease than the general public for yet unknown reasons.