By Elizabeth Willoughby on
After watching runners approach the finish line of the New York Marathon a few years ago, Ryan Reynolds was deeply moved by their self inflicted physical states of not-well-being. So much so that he decided, “I’d never do that ever, ever.”
He says, “I saw an incredible spectacle of people pushed to the very brink of collapse… I saw guys coming in to finish with bleeding nipples… People were crying. People were limping, hobbling, screaming, crawling.”
On November 2nd, however, Reynolds will take to the New York streets for this year’s marathon as a member of Team Fox in support of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. When Reynolds – whose father has been suffering from Parkinson’s for 15 years – met Michael J. Fox last year, he was inspired into doing something for both the cause and for his father.
In a wonderfully humorous yet heartfelt plea on his Team Fox page, Reynolds wrote: "I found it impossible not to be touched by [Michael’s] story of overwhelming strength, passion and relentless commitment to help those afflicted with this insidious disease. The man is inspiration exemplified. Plus, he was in Back To The Future. Which was, well, awesome. In a moment of extremely poor judgment, I offered to do something big for him—I offered to compete in the New York City Marathon. Which was, well, dumb.
“I am not a runner. I am a running joke. Waking up at 4:30 am and jogging anywhere from 11 to 23 miles has been nothing short of horrifying. I can’t imagine a worse way to start the day. Conversely, some people have real problems.”
Watching his father’s independence slip away, Reynolds has committed to the marathon, for better or worse: “It’s my hope the story of my father combined with my own goal of becoming the first person in history to sob uncontrollably for 26.2 miles straight, may inspire you to give something too.”
Copyright © 2008 Look to the Stars
