Two medical students from Philadelphia will be among the thousands of runners in New York City taking part in this weekend’s marathon. The medical students will run to support a foundation that supports children with brain tumors and raises funds for research.
The two met four years ago at Sidney Kimmel Medical School and quickly discovered they shared a passion for medicine and running.
Stephen Jennings and Samantha Moser run together to deal with the stress of being medical students. They are currently running for a good cause in support of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. They are helping the foundation raise money through sponsorship of Sunday’s New York City Marathon.
“It’s so much fun right before it starts and right after it ends,” Jennings said. “But it’s quite a struggle, at least for me.”
The marathon is 42 miles from Staten Island to Manhattan. They will be running with 50,000 people.
“I’d be happy if I could get a good time, but that’s not my priority this time,” Moser said. “I wanted to run for this foundation to support pediatrics in general, and I started thinking about how I wanted to advocate for patients.”
Every day in the hospital, Moser and Jennings see the struggles that patients and their families go through. They say empathy helps you fight through the marathon miles.
“When you get a cramp at mile 18, you’re like, ‘Okay, if they can do it, so can we,'” Jennings said.
Both are dedicated runners, but Mauser has the advantage. Although she has run marathons in just over three hours, Jennings’ best time was between four and five-and-a-half hours.
Mauser will probably finish before Jennings, but this marathon isn’t a race for time, it’s for kids who can’t run.
Together, Mr. Jennings and Mr. Moser raised more than $3,000 for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
Stephanie Stahl
