{"id":391248,"date":"2026-11-02T20:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391248\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T20:42:12","slug":"racing-awareness-brooklyn-runners-promote-charity-in-this-years-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/391248\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRacing\u201d Awareness: Brooklyn Runners Promote Charity in This Year\u2019s Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sponsored by Team Citizens, the Miles that Matter Award supports Brooklyn-based education nonprofit. \n<\/p>\n

This year, more than 2 million people showed up for the NYC Marathon, including Brooklyn runners and spectators cheering on loved ones from the sidelines.<\/p>\n

Crowds stretching from the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the finish line in Central Park, and the race gave runners a chance not only to challenge themselves personally, but also to promote change.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, 2026 NYC Marathon runner and Crown Heights resident, Miraj Mehta, met with New York City-based running nonprofit, New York Road Runners<\/a>, in Prospect Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the power communities have to bring people together,\u201d Mehta said.\u00a0\u201cSometimes all it takes to get into a hobby or a lifestyle is that first step, an introduction and access to information, resources\u00a0and most importantly, people who will join you, support and guide you.”<\/p>\n

\"mirajmehta\"
\nMiraj Mehta, 2026 Team Citizens’ Miles That Matter recipient. Photo: Supplied\/ Emily Paulus <\/p>\n

After that introduction, Mehta soon threw himself into consistent strength training and physical therapy, including participating in NYRR\u2019s running events, to train for future races.<\/p>\n

He\u00a0ran the NYC Half Marathon to raise funds for PENCIL, a nonprofit that raises awareness about public education by connecting local leaders to New York City public schools.<\/p>\n

Mehta\u00a0wanted to keep up the momentum and soon discovered the Miles that Matter Award<\/a>, created by Team Citizens.<\/p>\n

The award honored five New Yorkers, one from each borough, who demonstrated notable commitments to their communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wearing the green Citizens bib, Team Citizens members can participate in the program, which recognizes one marathon runner from each borough and gives $100,000 total to each runner\u2019s respective nonprofit.<\/p>\n

As the Brooklyn borough honoree, Mehta chose to run for Beginning with Children<\/a>, a nonprofit and public charter school network that provides free public education to low-income urban communities to break the cycle of poverty.<\/p>\n

Having previously worked with another education-based nonprofit PENCIL, Mehta wanted to promote and raise funds for accessible education for children in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw an opportunity to run for a cause that is personal to me, and make running through my own city and borough even more special,\u201d Mehta said.<\/p>\n

Mehta\u2019s passion for accessibility, particularly for sports like running, extends beyond the classroom. With a lack of structured programs in his own life growing up, Mehta\u2019s introduction to running showed him how access \u2013 whether that be to an activity or a community \u2013 can influence someone\u2019s life trajectory.<\/p>\n

While runners like Mehta participated in the marathon to raise awareness for their chosen causes, the race also gave Brooklynites a chance to challenge themselves personally.<\/p>\n

At the 2026 Marathon, Mehta finished the 26.2-mile race in just under five hours.<\/p>\n

For Stas Gus of Bensonhurst and Anna Vuskkrikidze of Park Slope, the marathon was a chance for them to cheer from the sidelines in support of their friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been working very hard for it, so we\u2019re happy to see her finally achieve her goals,\u201d said Gus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt reminds me of why I\u2019m happy to be a New Yorker,\u201d Vuskkrikidze added. \u201cBecause everyone\u2019s so enthusiastic and cheering on even strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sponsored by Team Citizens, the Miles that Matter Award supports Brooklyn-based education nonprofit. This year, more than 2…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391249,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-391248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}