It was a truly beautiful day in Akron. The sun had not even shown itself yet when a group of enthusiastic people sporting all white with the brightest Nike shoes you’d ever seen showed up at the starting line of the Akron Marathon. These individuals were running for a purpose: LeBron’s Wheels for Ed kids. It wasn’t about making a great time or finishing among the first; it was about doing something together as a family with those kids in mind every step of the way. It got tough at times, but each runner proudly wore an orange I PROMISE band, reminding them of the PROMISES made by the Wheels for Ed kids and the PROMISES those runners made to themselves throughout the months and months of training for this big day. Within the group of Foundation runners we had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, grandparents, athletes, non-athletes, students, teachers, bankers, and everything in between. But what really stood out was that they were team players, overcomers, and people passionate about the Akron community and the kids being impacted through the Foundation. In total, we ran around 300 miles between our five relay teams and a dozen half-marathoners. It was a special moment when our relay teams all made it to the finish line to join the half-marathoners and we were united as a family once again. There were tears of joy as some of our runners had overcome a challenge that not long ago they thought was impossible. The group celebrated and stayed until the very end, cheering on the final marathon participants as they rounded the corner and appeared in Canal Park Stadium. It was an honor to be running around hometown Akron representing the Foundation and LeBron’s growing numbers of Wheels for Ed kids! Finishing the 2013 Akron Marathon as a family… PROMISE Kept.
