Every Partner Counts: Carey Socol and Crowdrise

Over the last couple of years I have met some pretty incredible people. Carey Socol is one of them. We met at outside of our kid’s school last fall a few weeks before I was to run my first marathon to raise funds and awareness about one of the biggest barriers to access reproductive health services - distance. Carey was running too, the 2011 NYC ING Marathon was to be her 20th marathon. It was too late at that point for her to join our team but she said she’d be happy to wear an Every Mother Counts jersey. She also told me that she planned to run 50 marathons by age fifty and was already well on her way there. Since the day we met, Carey has run 4 marathons, all on behalf of EMC and raised $11,710. We established a permanent page for Carey on Crowdrise through which we have raised $168,529 to date for maternal health. So far Carey has completed marathons in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Delaware, Florida, Georgia.

In order to understand how Carey came up with the idea to run 50 marathons, we asked her to tell us her story in her own words. It sure inspires us – we hope it does the same for you.

I started running thirteen years ago. Initially, I saw it as a somewhat easy and convenient way to stay in shape. It started with a few miles here and there, then a 10K race, followed by longer and longer distances. I joined a training team and prepared for my first marathon in November of 2000. I can still remember the feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration as I crossed the finish line in Central Park all those years ago. After many months of training, I was thrilled to have successfully completed a long held personal goal. 

I’ve spoken to many people that run one marathon in order to cross it off their “bucket list,” and never to do again.  I was not one of those people. I quickly discovered that running was a useful way to clear my mind and to make new friendships. My long runs each Saturday had new purpose, and my shorter runs during the week provided more satisfaction. But most of all, it gave me a community. Running provided deep and meaningful relationships that have persevered for more than a decade.

The interesting crossroads of my story happened well into my running life. Mind you, I am not a fast runner. I am also not especially elegant or graceful in my stride. But I am determined and focused. I realized that I wanted running to be a part of my life for as long as possible. I also realized that I wanted it to represent more than a just personal passion. I was continuing to train and run marathons because doing so made me a better mom and gave me focus and discipline in my career. But after running 19 marathons for these reasons, I discovered that I wanted to do more.

As I was preparing to run fall marathons last year, I heard that Christy was training for her first NYC marathon in support of her foundation, Every Mother Counts. I had seen her film “No Woman, No Cry” at its Tribeca Film Festival premier in May of 2010, and its message had had a profound and lasting effect on me. As a working mom of 2 children, the message of increased education and support for maternal health care around the world resonated deeply with me.

Last November, I approached Christy with the idea of running a marathon in all 50 states before I turn 50 to raise money and awareness for her mobilization campaign. Thankfully, she loved the idea and asked me to join her “team.” Since crossing that first finish line in Central Park in November of 2000, I’ve run marathons in 15 different states. In the last six months, I’ve run four of those marathons (New York (NY), Rehoboth Beach (DE), Miami (FL), Albany (GA)), proudly wearing my “Every Mother Counts” running shirt and raising over $11,000 to date. It has been amazing to see the effect those 3 words, Every Mother Counts. It has prompted conversation amongst other runners who are curious about the foundation and has provided a great source of inspiration when spectators cheer me on with “Yeah girl, every mother does count!”

With 35 states left to conquer, I look forward to spreading the Every Mother Counts message across the country and to raising lots of money to help the foundation fund its initiatives. I have sponsors already pledging to donate money after each marathon is completed so I better keep it going. And although I am currently nursing an ankle injury, the next marathon on the calendar is Portland (OR) in October. I am beyond excited to get back out on the road, and I hope to see you all on my travels!

Crowdrise:

We learned about Crowdrise through our friend Eric Kessler and his organization New Venture Fund, our former fiscal sponsor. Crowdrise is a crowd-sourcing platform founded by Shauna Robertson and Edward Norton. They have been great partners and we’ve enjoyed getting to know them over the last few years. This has been a wonderful platform for EMC and our community who wanted to participate in our efforts. We’re using them again for the San Francisco marathon, the New York City marathon and every event in between.
 
EMC’s Fundraising Efforts with Crowdrise:
DOC2DOCK: $11,058
NYC ING Marathon 2011: $131,970
Mozilla Challenge: $18,047
LA Marathon 2012: $4,122
NYC Half Marathon March 2012: $3,332
TOTAL: $168,529