Ewing plans to run the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday — without shoes. And while wearing a tuxedo. He hopes to raise awareness about the need for a bone marrow donor for leukemia patient Amit Gupta and other cancer victims. How do you run an entire marathon barefoot?
One step at a time. I’ve been running barefoot for several years now.
Why?
There are three reasons: strong, healthy and fun. The barefoot running thing has really caught on because it makes sense. By strong, I mean we have over 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments in each foot, and they are atrophied when they are encased in shoes. Running barefoot forces you to run in proper form, so you run on your muscles instead of your joints. And it’s fun.
How did you get involved with bone marrow donation?
I started running marathons in 2004; my mom got diagnosed with cancer in 1996. So like most everyone, cancer affects me personally. I found out that there is a chronic shortage of donors in the bone marrow registry. Unlike blood donations, bone marrow donations require a specific genetic match. Not all ethnicities are represented equally in the registry, and oftentimes the only hope a cancer patient has is a bone marrow transplant. As a result of this shortage, cancer patients sit and wait for people to join the registry, and people die every day waiting for matches. That’s tragic, because many of those lives would be saved if more people simply joined the registry.
How do people join the registry?
Joining the registry is free, and all it takes is a simple cheek swab. Swab a Cheek, Save A Life — a local charity — is running a bone marrow registry drive at the marathon in honor of Amit. My goal is to run to raise awareness and $5,000 for the charity. People can learn more at dcbarefootrun.com.
– Liz Essley
