Jaden Merrick is on the fast track in life. The 9-year-old set a new world record for his age in the half-marathon when he ran the Park-to-Park Half Marathon in Waterloo, Iowa on Sept. 9 in 1 hour, 30 minutes and 43 seconds. That's a 6:55 minute/mile. "We sent him out at a pretty conservative pace, and he ran spot [...]
How many laps around the warning track at Fenway Park would it take to cover 26.2 miles? The answer: 116.5. The reason we know is the first ever marathon inside a MLB ballpark was held at the iconic ballpark on Friday. The race was capped at 50 people, and in order to participate, each runner had to raise at least [...]
When Troy Austin toed the start line of the Sunshine Coast Marathon, he did so with an empty stroller. That's because his son, T.J., passed away a year-and-a-half ago through a stillborn birth. According to Global News, the 37-year-old firefighter from Australia ran the 26.2 miles in 5 hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds to honor his son, raise awareness [...]
It was another great month of inspiring stories at Purpose2Play. Here are our top five from August, as measured by pageviews. 5. Swimmer Beth French ends Ocean's 7 Challenge for her autistic son Beth French entered the water to show her 8-year-old son, Dylan, what was possible. She got out to show him he’s more important than anything else. The [...]
Scott Searle is known as the "Yo-Yo Man" because he runs long distances while slinging the colorful toy down to the ground and "around-the-world." His tricks while moving are impressive, as are the 13-18 miles he logs on a daily basis, but perhaps his greatest maneuver has been going from drinking 30 beers a day to living a clean and [...]
Griffin Mazeski decided to run America's Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego to celebrate his tenth birthday, but in his waning hours as a 9-year-old, he still had business to tend to. And, the results are well worth celebrating. That's because the Colorado boy set a new world record when he ran the 13.1-mile race in 1:33:43. It becomes [...]
You might think a couple of days spent in Death Valley would suck the life out of you. Not for SaraMae Hollandsworth, who actually experienced the opposite effect. "I came out of there like I swallowed fire, ready to take on anything," she said. Ultramarathoner Neil Smith asked the 36-year-old from Dallas to be one of his pacers at Badwater, [...]
Sister Madonna Buder, 87, is known as the "Iron Nun" for good reason. She's a Roman Catholic nun originally from St. Louis, who at 75 years old, became the oldest person to complete the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. That's a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. She didn't start racing until she was 48. However, since [...]
Even in the heat of competition, there are acts that go beyond good sportsmanship. Look no further than what Robert Gomez, 34, did for 23-year-old Jesse Orach during Saturday's Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Orach, who was leading his division, ran one helluva race until he collapsed from heat stroke about 100 yards from the finish line. [...]
It was a huge month here at Purpose2Play. We talked with a homicide detective who lost his leg, but found his way out of a dark hole. We covered the ESPY Awards and Air Force Sgt. Israel Del Toro's big win. We also reported on a mother who set a new world record for pushing a three-child stroller in a [...]