In two weeks (8/27/06), I will run the first-ever New York Half Marathon -- that's 13.1 miles. It's going to be an amazing race! Paul Tergot of Kenya is running -- he won the New York Marathon last year.

Catherine Ndereba, another amazing Kenyan and Olympic Silver Medalist, will also be running.

Prize for top female is $10,000. Catherine will probably beat me because she's wicked fast and I'm kind of fat and out of shape. But that's not stopping me! I am dedicating myself these next two weeks to raise $5,000 for the "Raising Malawi" project. On 8/27/06 I will make a donation to help the orphans in Malawi, Africa who live in extreme poverty.

PLEASE JOIN ME IN THIS RACE!

Make a donation to: www.raisingmalawi.org (please let me know amount so I can count it against my goal). Or, make checks out to "Raising Malawi".

What is the Millennium Villages Project: Raising Malawi?

It's a practical plan to end extreme poverty in one of the poorest villages in the world. The funds I am raising are going to the village of Gumulira, where malaria, HIV/AIDs, high infant mortality and hunger are all part of the lives of the 5,000 people who live there. Using simple solutions like bed nets, inexpensive medicines, seeds and fertilizer, the people of this village will soon be on the road to self-sustained growth. (www.raisingmalawi.org)

My new personal hero Jeffrey Sachs endorces this effort -- it's his brainchild, afterall.