The Circle

Issue date: 2/8/07 Section: Health

Media Credit: Kate Giglio Marist senior Brian Loew received his Boston Marathon number this past Monday, bringing him a step closer to completing his first marathon. He is running to raise money for the Meningitis Association of America.

At this year's Boston Marathon, over 20,000 runners will be lacing up their sneakers and taking to the streets. This year's race is the 111th, but for Brian Loew, a Marist College senior and native of the Boston area, it will be his first.

Though he laced up a pair of running shoes for the first time only two years ago in an attempt to develop a new hobby and lose weight, Loew has not only achieved those two goals, he said, but has also fallen in love with the sport.

In fact, he said, he had "actually lost 40 pounds." He cited a "sense of accomplishment and feeling good physically" as his favorite effects of running. If you had asked Loew two years ago if he though he'd ever run a marathon, he would have laughed, he said, and answered bluntly: "Absolutely not!"

When he began, his goal was a 10K (7.2 mile) race. Upon completing the 10K Falmouth Road Race in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in August of 2005, he set his sights on the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. Now, Loew runs seven miles a day and will begin to increase this amount until he is able to run 26 miles before April 17th. You can see him on any given day, running around the Marist campus, up Route 9 to the FDR Library and back.

In order to qualify as a participant in the Boston Marathon, a runner must have a previous qualifying time at a certified marathon, or run the Boston Marathon as part of a fundraising opportunity for a charitable cause. This being Loew's first marathon, he plans to run in an effort to raise money for the Meningitis Foundation of America.

Touched by the sudden loss of fellow Marist College student Caitlyn Boyle to meningitis last fall, Loew said he wanted to honor his late classmate as well as some of his peers. Although he was not close to Boyle, he said, many of his good friends were. He explained, "She meant a lot to them, so anything I can do to help raise awareness of meningitis, and help others remember Cait, I thought I should do it."

The race is scheduled to take place on April 17th, 2007. Students interested in funding Loew for his race in the Boston Marathon, and contributing to his charitable efforts for the Meningitis Foundation of America, should email him at Brian.Loew@marist.edu. All donations collected by Loew will be given to the Meningitis Foundation of America in Boyle's name.

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