Run for Haiti Unites NYC’s Running Community, Politicians, and Supporters

Thousands contribute to the worthiest of causes

New York, February 20, 2010—Nearly 10,000 runners and walkers joined together on a beautiful morning in Central Park to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the people of Haiti in response to the cataclysmic earthquake on January 12.
 
The Run for Haiti, co-sponsored by New York Road Runners and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, was organized in just 18 days. Registration opened on February 2, and by race day, some 10,500 runners had each made a $40 donation by signing up. At least 36 corporations, including nine media outlets, donated their full complement of products and services to the staging and coverage of the event, supplying everything from medical support and live web streaming to apples, bagels, and spring water.  
 
As a result, more than $400,000 will go directly to New York City’s Haiti Relief Fund, which is administered by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. Recipients of the Haiti Relief Fund to date have been the American Red Cross, CARE, Doctors Without Borders, Partners in Health, Save the Children, UNICEF, and the United Nations World Food Programme.
 
The race winners were New Yorkers Catha Mullen (22:06) and John Henwood (20:39). Steeve Gabart, the Haitian national record-holder at 5000 and 10,000 meters, who traveled to the event from his home in Florida, finished in 25:24. “This shows what kind of nation we live in, that we can get people together so quickly to help out,” Gabart said.
 
Other notable participants included United States Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York City Comptroller John Liu, New York State Senator Bill Perkins, New York City Councilman Robert Jackson, and New York City Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis Walcott. “Today New York City and New York State are united for the people of Haiti,” said Perkins.
 
The event included post-race family activities and free kids’ races. A four-mile virtual run, in which runners around the world could register and run on their own between February 19 and February 24, attracted an all-star team of past and present champions of the sport, including Usain Bolt of Jamaica, Grete Waitz of Norway, Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain, and Americans Shalane Flanagan, Ryan Hall, Deena Kastor, Meb Keflezighi, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Bill Rodgers. “With the leaders of our sport participating virtually, we have the entire support of the running community,” said New York Road Runners president and CEO May Wittenberg.
 
New York City Councilman Daniel Garodnick said at the start, quoting the writer Maya Angelou: “Haiti is our front yard. We are Americans; we care.”
 
New York City Councilman Mathieu Eugene, the first Haitian-born official elected to the New York City Council, summed up the spirit of the day: “What you are doing today is going to have a positive impact on the people of Haiti forever.”

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