kintml2u
11-21-2004, 06:35 AM
Inmates run for cancer research
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-pris1121,0,6285994,print.story?coll=ny-nynews-headlines
BY ADAM FULLER
Staff Writer
November 20, 2004, 4:16 PM EST
As thousands of marathon runners ascended hills and crossed rivers Nov. 7, winding their way through cheering crowds in the five boroughs, a race of a very different kind was shaping up behind the walls of an upstate maximum security prison.
Thirty inmates at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in Ulster County were preparing to run, or walk, 26.2 miles of their own -- 76.5 monotonous laps around the cement and dirt perimeter of the prison's exercise yard.
For men who spend most of their days locked in small cells, there was satisfaction in finishing the race, and even more in raising an estimated $5,000, with other prison events, for a children's cancer fund.
Edwin Garcia was one of seven who finished this year's race, the 14th at Eastern.
"I'm doing this for my mother," said Garcia, 49, whose mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. "She told me, 'You gotta win, win, win.' I told her, 'I'm gonna finish.'" And he did, with a time of 4 hours, 48 minutes.
Finishing is a goal for most of the runners, along with raising money for Tomorrows Children's Fund, which provides help to the pediatric cancer unit at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.
"The main thing is getting it done, the sense of accomplishment -- and bragging rights," said Steven Morales, 43, who ran to victory this year with a time of 4 hours, 21 minutes.
Morales, who said he's served more than 13 years for involvement in an attempted robbery that resulted in a death, started running as a teenager on Staten Island. Tired of waiting for the bus after returning from Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry, he would run home.
Kathy Ambrose, administrative director of the Tomorrows fund, said the money the inmates raise helps purchase art supplies and other materials the children use when they come in for treatment at Hackensack. "These are guys who did something very wrong and want to make amends," she said. "They want to give something back."
Poughkeepsie resident and marathoner Bob Dinsmore visits the prison regularly to coach the inmates, who began training in April, slowly building stamina while collecting pledges from among the 1,100 inmates, as well as friends outside. Each inmate was required to raise at least $15 to participate. That represents about three weeks' wages.
"Superficially, it's hard to believe that a bunch of maximum security inmates would care about a bunch of kids with cancer that they've never met and never will meet," Dinsmore wrote recently in response to a question about the fund-raising. "Well, it also turns out that none of the Hollywood stereotypes about prison atmosphere is really true, at least at Eastern."
Inmates at Eastern started running the marathon in 1990 after hearing a radiothon in support of the children's fund hosted by radio personality Don Imus. They planned the race with Eastern's recreation supervisor, John Novak, who said they raised about $500 the first year. Last year, with the addition of two ice cream sales and a charity dinner, the inmates raised around $5,000 for the fund.
Sal Morales, a 49-year-old from Queens Village, walked most of the day, joking with other inmates mile after mile. Although he stopped after seven miles, Morales said the marathon was a chance for him to consider that even harsh prison life can be less daunting than what children with cancer face.
"These kids got it worse than me; they're doing time themselves," said Morales, a self-described con man eligible for early release in 2011. "I don't want to die in here. By helping them, I'm keeping myself alive." Adam Fuller is a freelance writer.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-pris1121,0,6285994,print.story?coll=ny-nynews-headlines
BY ADAM FULLER
Staff Writer
November 20, 2004, 4:16 PM EST
As thousands of marathon runners ascended hills and crossed rivers Nov. 7, winding their way through cheering crowds in the five boroughs, a race of a very different kind was shaping up behind the walls of an upstate maximum security prison.
Thirty inmates at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility in Ulster County were preparing to run, or walk, 26.2 miles of their own -- 76.5 monotonous laps around the cement and dirt perimeter of the prison's exercise yard.
For men who spend most of their days locked in small cells, there was satisfaction in finishing the race, and even more in raising an estimated $5,000, with other prison events, for a children's cancer fund.
Edwin Garcia was one of seven who finished this year's race, the 14th at Eastern.
"I'm doing this for my mother," said Garcia, 49, whose mom was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. "She told me, 'You gotta win, win, win.' I told her, 'I'm gonna finish.'" And he did, with a time of 4 hours, 48 minutes.
Finishing is a goal for most of the runners, along with raising money for Tomorrows Children's Fund, which provides help to the pediatric cancer unit at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey.
"The main thing is getting it done, the sense of accomplishment -- and bragging rights," said Steven Morales, 43, who ran to victory this year with a time of 4 hours, 21 minutes.
Morales, who said he's served more than 13 years for involvement in an attempted robbery that resulted in a death, started running as a teenager on Staten Island. Tired of waiting for the bus after returning from Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry, he would run home.
Kathy Ambrose, administrative director of the Tomorrows fund, said the money the inmates raise helps purchase art supplies and other materials the children use when they come in for treatment at Hackensack. "These are guys who did something very wrong and want to make amends," she said. "They want to give something back."
Poughkeepsie resident and marathoner Bob Dinsmore visits the prison regularly to coach the inmates, who began training in April, slowly building stamina while collecting pledges from among the 1,100 inmates, as well as friends outside. Each inmate was required to raise at least $15 to participate. That represents about three weeks' wages.
"Superficially, it's hard to believe that a bunch of maximum security inmates would care about a bunch of kids with cancer that they've never met and never will meet," Dinsmore wrote recently in response to a question about the fund-raising. "Well, it also turns out that none of the Hollywood stereotypes about prison atmosphere is really true, at least at Eastern."
Inmates at Eastern started running the marathon in 1990 after hearing a radiothon in support of the children's fund hosted by radio personality Don Imus. They planned the race with Eastern's recreation supervisor, John Novak, who said they raised about $500 the first year. Last year, with the addition of two ice cream sales and a charity dinner, the inmates raised around $5,000 for the fund.
Sal Morales, a 49-year-old from Queens Village, walked most of the day, joking with other inmates mile after mile. Although he stopped after seven miles, Morales said the marathon was a chance for him to consider that even harsh prison life can be less daunting than what children with cancer face.
"These kids got it worse than me; they're doing time themselves," said Morales, a self-described con man eligible for early release in 2011. "I don't want to die in here. By helping them, I'm keeping myself alive." Adam Fuller is a freelance writer.