The Roselle Catholic community will be represented at the Boston Marathon.
Michael Kennedy, a member of the Roselle Catholic faculty and the head coach of RC’s cross country and track teams, will run in the prestigious event that is set for April 21.
“This will be a very powerful experience for me for two reasons,” Kennedy, RC class of 2005, said. “The first is being accepted to such a prestigious marathon is a privilege and an honor; and the second is because of last year’s bombing at the Boston marathon on April 15.
“I am running as a fundraiser for The One Fund, which is an organization created to assist the victims and their families affected by last year’s tragic events. The perseverance that these victims and their families have shown has inspired both the people of Boston as well as Americans as a whole.”
Kennedy, 26, qualified for Boston when he ran a 3:03 – for 26 miles – at the Amica Marathon in Newport, R.I. on Oct. 14, 2012. Kennedy’s time was the eighth fastest at the Rhode Island race, which included more than 1,000 runners.
This will be Kennedy’s sixth actual marathon, but he’s also participated in a few ultra-marathons, races that cover 50 and 100 miles. In 2010, Kennedy completed the New York City Marathon in 3:19.
A physics and chemistry teacher on the second floor at Roselle Catholic, Kennedy estimates he usually runs about six days a week.
“I think being a current runner might help me relate to members of the track team a little bit better,” said Kennedy, who’s in his first season at the helm of the Lions after two years as an assistant. “They know that I’m going through what they’re going through in their minds and bodies.”
Kennedy was a member of the 2004 Roselle Catholic cross country team that won the Parochial B championship at Holmdel Park.
“I don’t know anyone who was directly affected by last year’s Boston Mararthon,” Kennedy said. “But I really feel as a runner like I was affected by their loss.”
At Roselle Catholic’s Winter Athletics Convocation on March 24, RC Athletic Director Joe Skrec introduced Kennedy and told the audience about Kennedy’s Boston Marathon efforts.
Anyone interested in making a donation in support of Mike Kennedy to The One Fund can go to:
http://www.crowdrise.com/barrydoesbostonmarathon2014/ fundraiser/michaelkennedy1.
Follow the above link to Kennedy’s page and click on the button that says “donate to this fundraiser.”
“Please contribute to my fundraising and show support so we can stand united with them,” Kennedy said.
“Every dollar will go directly towards the people who are suffering or permanently disabled and every little bit will go a long way.
“Please be generous to the recipients of The One Fund.”