FREE RUNNING EVENTS

Running Club for people living with HIV and / or Cancer & Friends  announces its 2nd and 3rd FREE 5K Run / Walk for HIVers, Cancer Survivors & Friends for 2010: Great Neck and Oceanside

The second and third FREE 5K Run / Walk for HIVers / Cancer Survivors & Friends will be held in Kings Point Park,  on March 21st, 2010 and at Oceanside Park on Sunday, October 25th, 2010, start time 9 AM for Both Events (arrive between 7:30 and 8:30 to receive your running bib & t-shirt). If you are interested in participating you must sign up in advance as there will not be any race day registration. To sign up click on the following link: 5K FREE Run / Walk Application for March 21, 2010 Event The run is limited to 100 people:

- people living with HIV or cancer

- students of Great Neck North High School

- all residents of Great Neck and Kings Point

- club members of High School AIDS Awareness Clubs and their faculty advisers

- runners and walkers who have participated in previous Events sponsored by the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation

You will need to sign up as team of two people, one person is living with HIV or cancer and the other person is HIV-negative and cancer free. To the maximum extent possible we will never publicize which person is living with a life-threatening illness and which person is healthy unless the two-person team gives the Foundation such permission for purposes of promoting the Foundation’s work and / or individual’s accomplishment.

My name is Richard Brodsky and I’m President of the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation, a 501(c) 3 public charity. I’m HIV-positive for 12+ years, a brain cancer survivor for 7+ years and a marathon runner for life. The Foundation sponsored its second annual 5K AIDS / Cancer Run / Walk in Cedar Creek Park, Seaford, Long Island on May 31, 2009. 354 walkers and runners participated and Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray presented trophies to the winners. Supervisor Murray and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi both presented the Richard M. Brodsky with Certificates of Appreciation.

The Foundation will be starting a running club for people living with HIV and / or cancer. These people could only join the club if they join with a healthy person so no one knows who is healthy and who is not. If we could start out with just two 5Ks per year, capped at 100 participants although we do plan on growing, the Foundation could provide Event t-shirts. The Foundation will also provide bagels, bananas, coffee, cookies or muffins, water, trophies and a few lottery prizes. At the inaugural run, the Foundation did provide $50 in toiletry / gift items to all participants. All participants and volunteers also won lottery prizes worth an average of $35. It’s amazing how generous store vendors and enterprising students have been on Long Island. It’s doubtful we can get such large donations again, but hey, you never know.

The purpose of organizing these 5K run / walks is to get people living with HIV and cancer exercising and having fun. Running and the camaraderie of running with friendly, upbeat runners has saved my life. I want to be able to share this gift with as many people living with HIV and cancer as possible. My Foundation can sponsor two of these runs a year and the other monthly runs could be at other 5K Events on Long Island where the entry fees will range from $10 - $20 per person and perhaps the Foundation could arrange for a group discount. These entry fees would need to be paid by the runners or walkers.

To read more about the global work the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation is involved with, the website, http://www.worldaidsmarathon.com shows photos of the annual World AIDS Marathon in Kisumu, Kenya on World AIDS Day and its charitable work in Africa. To learn more about the annual 5K AIDS / Cancer Run / Walk in America which is held every May or June, visit the other links on this website. Donations for all Events can be made via either site. We are not accepting donations for the March 21st Run / Walk. To help fund the Oceanside FREE run / walk, sponsors are invited to contribute $100 to have their name or $250 for a logo on the Event T-shirt. If the t-shirts have already been printed, not to worry, your name or logo will appear on the post-Event t-shirt which will be mailed to you. You will also receive a Certificate of Appreciation, and you name or logo will appear on the Runner’s Certificate of Completion, if your donation is received more than 72 hours before the start of the run / walk.

Special thanks to the following for providing food & drink for the May 31, 2009 5k AIDS Cancer Run Walk:

Arciere Market Company – Inwood,  Bagel & Pizza Island – Lawrence,  Costco – Lawrence,  Dunkin Donuts – Lawrence, Wantagh and Bellmore,  Entenmanns’s – breakfast bars,  International Delight – Rockville Centre,  Pantano’s – Merrick,  Ronaldo’s Pizzeria – Merrick,  Seaford Bagels – Seaford,  Sobol’s Distributors – Inwood,  Starbucks – Merrick,  Stop & Shop – Inwood

There was also a lot of support from the local community. 25 students from the Seaford High School chorus sang the National Anthem. Boy scout troop #239 and the Nike Factory Store in Oceanside provided at least a dozen volunteers each. Harmony Healthcare Associates of Wantagh provided pre and post-race stretching and massage therapy. MYSN.TV recorded the Event, to view the video, watch video now.

Says Jodi Brodsky, Richard’s wife, “it’s a great day when communities, businesses and individuals can come out and be supportive of people living with HIV and cancer. We’ve come a long way. I remember when Richard was first diagnosed with HIV and we were fearful that the community would ostracize Richard for disclosing his HIV-status. While the stigma of AIDS is still there, it is very comforting to know there were 354 walkers and runners supporting Richard and the work his Foundation does.”