The overarching goal of this exercise is to raise as much money as possible for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, which has provided outstanding services for the past 50 years.  

Somewhere along the way a tradition has formed that could be described as a one-sided rivalry with celebrities who have completed the New York City Marathon. A little friendly trash talking can do wonders to inject hype into an event. Last year Diddy (aka. P. Diddy, Puffy, Puff Daddy and Sean “Puffy” Combs), the award-winning actor, musician and fashion mogul, set the precedent when his 4:15:54 marathon time was decisively smashed.  

This year the name to beat is Ed Norton, a highly accomplished actor who finished the marathon last year at 3:48. Mr. Norton, known for the “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and numerous other critically acclaimed films, completed a portion of his training with Maasai Marathon. Maasai raises funds for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust and counts David Blaine as a member. Mr. Norton reportedly discovered Massai during a trip to Kenya to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

“It literally is lions and elephants and giraffes and rhinoceros and things like that there,” the actor told the Daily News when questioned about Maasai . (http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Edward-Norton-Running-Marathon-for-African-Cause-67224917.html)

Indeed, membership with Maasai enabled Mr. Norton to complete a portion of his training with the group’s “warriors” in Kenya, Rwanda and Long Island. You can see his actual training times and satellite maps of actual practices through the magic that is Garmin technology. (http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=maasaimarathonteam#owner=maasaimarathonteam&sortField=relevance&currentPage=1 )

Beating Mr. Norton’s 2009 results will not be easy. With your help we can break Mr. Norton’s record and support oncology research. The real winner, of course, is LLS.