Just a few hours more, and then the five boroughs of the Big Apple will see big names running through the lanes, setting eyes on the grand prize. After all, it’s the time of year when the TCS New York Marathon really gets going. And the continuing race gives splendor to marathon enthusiasts. There will be no exception this year as well. The hosts have already claimed to set everything in place, and as per their announcements, a few Olympians will also turn up in the race. Among them, Tamirat Tola will come as the frontrunner. 

After winning the ‘hardest’ marathon (remember the steep rise) at the Paris Olympics, the Ethiopian will step into the New York Marathon to continue his fiery run. Hellen Obiri will join him, fresh off the Paris Olympics. However, from the American squad, Conner Mantz, Clayton Young, Dakotah Lindwurm (now Popehn), and many others will join the race. But apart from these seasoned runners, there will be a few average Joes in the race who will promote life. How? Let’s follow up on one such story. 

The tale of winning distances despite having pebbles in shoes 

The name Leanna Scaglione may not ring as a regular top-notch finisher of the marathon races. In fact, she does not have much experience running in the 26.2-mile course. But on Sunday (November 3), she wants to enrich her book of running in the distance courses. Along with more than 50,000 runners, she wants to run in the New York Marathon 2024. That fact may not promote her differently. But Scaglione’s identity may help. She is a 33-year-old former ballerina who had a tumor removed from her head last year. Not only that, till now Leanna Scaglione has had 13 tumors removed from her body, spreading in her spine, wrists, and brain. Still, she is all up to enter the New York Marathon on Sunday. But why? That leads to deeper. 

Scaglione has NF2-related schwannomatosis, a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow along the nervous system, as mentioned in her interview with PIX11 News. Because of this disease, she had to face barriers in her life journey. At first, the disease hindered her professional ballerina career by giving birth to a tumor in her lower spine. However, she took medical help, but the back-to-back operations put her in a wheelchair. Thus, her dream to follow the ballerina profession hit rock bottom. Yet she didn’t give up. Rather, she aimed to pursue running, but that also needed practice. 

And Leanna Scaglione put her soul into that. In the interaction, she said, “I started running during the pandemic. Kept getting more successful with the running, and I started to enjoy it even more.” Now, it has become her escape from the disease, defying her limitations. According to her, she may not get the chance in the Olympics ever but she wants to fill up the vacancy by turning up for the New York Marathon 2024. And she wants to promote the message that everyone can achieve their goal. To promote such a beautiful message and raise the funds for treatment of such a disease, she will carry the name of the Children’s Tumor Foundation with her on Sunday. A noble attempt! But there will be a few others with the same goal—promote life! 

The New York Marathon 2024 will witness the champions of life 

Just like Leanna Scaglione, Kelly Corley has had a painful past. She has a forgettable history of brain concussions, disrupting her normal life. How? As per Corley, she has faced four brain concussions till now and those boons have come with a list of syndromes. Among those, the most common is the epileptic activity in her brain. Because of this, she once had to stop running and put a stop notice on many such things that used to be the intangible parts of her life. And just like Leanna Scaglione, she followed the brave route. 

To bring her fitness back, Kelly Corley started to follow drills first. Then, feeling the positive signs, she decided to participate in the distance events. However, her goal remained firm: to raise awareness regarding brain injuries. That goal led her to the New York Marathon last year, holding the flag of the Brain Injury Association of New York State. She will do the same this year as well with the same target. So that makes a bunch of individuals who have the painful past and the might to look forward, despite the issues. Are not those tales motivational?