Run Baby Run - Official NYC Marathon Team

"Run Baby Run" - is the official marathon team for The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children led by Michelle Williams as Team Captain.

Turning Pain Into Power, They “Run, Baby, Run”
October 22, 2012 by Barbara Huebner, NYRR News Service

David Christopher Leon wandered away from his mother in their Tucson, AZ, church parking lot on October 29, 1983, after spying a carnival at a shopping center nearby. There, a carny offered the 10-year-old $5 to help him pitch a tent.
“We lived off of welfare and food boxes and donated clothing,

” recalled Michelle Williams. “That $5 must have seemed like $5 million to my little brother at the time.”
But there was no tent. The man threw the boy into a car, gagged him, took him to an abandoned house, and brutally, repeatedly sodomized him. David was found at 1:30 the next morning, bleeding, in the same church parking lot in which his mother had lost him. He was lost, indeed. “We always say he died that day,” said Williams. “He was never emotionally whole: He did everything he could not to feel pain or shame for what had happened to him.”
In the lonely, wee hours of June 16, 2004, at the age of 31 after struggling with drugs and alcohol, Leon died when he was hit by a train. Two years earlier, Leon had finally confronted his abductor in court, re-living the rape—years after another man had been wrongfully convicted of the crime and subsequently released, in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Finally, in 2002, Walter Calvin Cruise pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. But it wasn’t enough to save Leon. Less than two years later, Williams said, “my brother gave up his life.”
Williams, married for 20 years and the mother of an 18-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, last year began having trouble sleeping, spending hours each night sobbing in her bed. Overcome by the renewed anguish, she heeded a voice that told her to turn her pain into power, to remind people that these horrible things really do happen and need to be talked about openly. A runner, Williams sat down at her computer to search for the next big race and came up with the ING New York City Marathon. A late quest last year to get the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children added to the list of Marathon charity partners surprisingly yielded five race bibs. Williams; her sister, Danielle; and her mother, Patricia Benitez, used three of them, with the other two going to people who had lost relatives under similar circumstances. Together they raised more than $16,000, 125 percent of their goal. On November 4, Williams will run again, this time with her youngest sister, Raquel. But she emphasized, “This is not David’s run; this is for every child.”
Also running is Jan Wright, a retired police chief in Hamburg, NJ, who worked on an abduction case in the late 1990s and was present when the child—10 years old, the same age as Williams’s brother when he was raped—was reunited with his mother eight months later. The young man several years ago graduated from Temple University, and his mother calls Wright to thank him every year on the anniversary of the day her son was found.
“Sometimes we feel bad because we had such a happy ending [and others do not],” said Wright, a long-time runner who will be doing his first ING New York City Marathon. Their name, “Team Run Baby Run,” is as poignant as it is fitting. It’s what they hope every child who feels threatened will do.
“I just go back to that day when [my brother] was getting in the car,” Williams said, “and I wish I had been there to yell ‘Run, baby, run.’”

08/17/2024

11/02/2021

Our 2021 Three Musketeers! National Center for Missing & Exploited Children New York Road Runners (NYRR)

10/18/2020

Congratulations Tim and Joanie and thank you to all of our precious donors who supported this great mission to benefit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 💛

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 2020 TCS New York City Marathon

10/15/2020

MUST READ! The cancellation of the 2020 NYC Marathon did not stop Tim and Joanie Albers! Not only will they be completing a NYC "Virtual" Marathon this Sunday to benefit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, but they have far exceeded all fundraising expectations. With only $1,000 left to go to reach their goal amount of $13,000, will you please consider a gift of any amount? Please give and help this amazing couple reach their goal! Link below🙏
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We are running for our daughters and for children everywhere.

As the parents of a brave young survivor of an abduction, we know how devastating and painful this experience is for children and families. No one should ever experience this. Abductions, violence towards children, and all forms of child exploitation become lifelong challenges for the children and families affected by these crimes. We are running to raise awareness and support the organization that is leading the way on these issues. We know how important it is to hold on to hope, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children helps provide hope to children and families through the work that they do every day to find missing children and support victims and families.

Join us as we turn pain into power by committing ourselves to running the NYC Marathon and to raising as much as we can for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Here’s what we’re asking of you:

1. Advocate for children wherever you are.

2. Share this page far and wide.

3. If you can, donate and help us crush our fundraising goal. We know that this is an incredibly challenging time for everyone, and we hope that this finds you and your family in good health. We also know that the work of NCMEC is still desperately needed during this time.

Finally, let us use this as an opportunity to say thank you to all of the incredible family, friends, neighbors and others who have supported us over these past few years. Of course, we want to share a special thank you to the wonderful couple who found our daughter. We also want to thank the Hamilton, MA Police Department and all of our local first responders who came to our daughter's aid. You all have made an enormous difference in our lives. We hope that through these 26.2 miles we can help make a difference for someone else. Thanks!

Tim and Joanie Albers

Hamilton, MA

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children 2020 TCS New York City Marathon We are running for our daughters and for children everywhere. As the parents of a brave young survivor of an abduction, we know how devastating and painful this experience is for children and families. No one should ever experience this. Abductions, violence towards children, and ...

07/03/2020

The 2020 , set to take place on November 1, has been canceled. Due to coronavirus-related health and safety concerns for runners, spectators, volunteers, staff, and the many partners and communities that support the event, and in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of the City of New York, we made the difficult decision to cancel the world’s largest marathon.

All participants who were registered for the 2020 TCS New York City Marathon will be contacted directly by July 15 regarding their cancellation resolution options. You will have the choice of one of five resolution options.
Check the link out below for more information.
https://lnkd.in/gpkNgBz

05/05/2020

This dynamic duo has exceeded all of our expectations! Read and be inspired! Thank you for all you are doing Joanie & Tim!

04/16/2020

Photos from Run Baby Run - Official NYC Marathon Team's post

12/04/2019

There is a moment in every race. A moment where you can either quit, fold, or say to yourself, 'I can do this.” Well ....they all did it!!! Exactly one month ago today these six amazing individuals were proudly displaying their achievements the day after the ... a day we call Medal Monday🏅 Not everyone will know what this feels like… This is for the strong! Those who even doubted themselves but did it anyway!These six beautiful souls are a part of us forever❤️ Thank you 2019 benefiting National Center for Missing & Exploited Children💛

12/04/2019

Want one? We have five spots left for 2020! DM us for details!

12/04/2019

Thank you Team 2019 for an AMAZING Year!

Time flies! Exactly ☝️ month ago, you and 52,000+ runners ran together with one singular goal: completing the . Tag a friend or family member who helped make that goal a reality!

11/08/2019

Thank you Brian MacNair for an amazing evening to benefit National Center for Missing & Exploited Children ❤️

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