Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group of Celebrities Running NYC Marathon
Posted October 28th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Adam Jacobs
Section: News & Results, Marathons
Former soccer star Brandi Chastain (pictured, right) and former gymnastics sensation Kerri Strug (pictured, below), will trade in their old Team USA uniforms for orange running jerseys as they take on their next athletic challenge — the 2008 ING New York City Marathon.
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, the Olympic gold medalists will lead another impressive group of star athletes from other sports 
and international celebrities that will join nearly 40,000 participants for one of the world’s premier distance running events. These sporting greats will be joined by supermodel Beth Ostrovsky and actor Ryan Reynolds.
Strug and Chastain will join global financial service leader ING and wear orange shoe laces to serve as ambassadors for the ING Run for Something Better, a national program that promotes youth fitness and provides funding for free community and school-based running programs across the country.
Ostrovsky, who recently married to shock jock radio host Howard Stern, will be running the marathon to benefit the North Shore Animal League on Long Island. The League is hoping to raise $262,000 through sponsorships and donations. All proceeds will benefit the League’s life-saving mission to find “forever” homes for more than 20,000 orphaned animals each year. To learn more about the charity and read Beth’s training blog, go to her website at www.gobetho.org.
Reynolds, engaged to movie star Scarlett Johansson, will go from the red carpet to the blue line as he runs the ING New York City Marathon this year. This will be Reynolds’s first marathon, and he’ll be the first celebrity chair of Team Fox, the fund-raising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation to find a cure for Parkinson’s disease. He’ll be running along with 130 Team Fox Marathoners.
Last year’s edition of the race included seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and actress Katie Holmes.
Other celebrities to run the NYC Marathon over the last few years include Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller, talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey, hip-hop titan P. Diddy and supermodel Kim Alexis.
For the sake of comparison, here is a sampling of some top marathon finish times by celebrities, politicians, athletes, musicians and other entertainers:
- 2:59:37 - Lance Armstrong, cyclist
3:30:18 - John Edwards, former Senator
3:31:00 - Michael Dukakis, former governor
3:44:52 - President George W. Bush
3:45:35 - Kristin Armstrong, ex-wife of Lance Armstrong
3:52:00 - Kim Alexis, supermodel
3:54:00 - Roger Craig, football player
3:54:40 - Justin Leonard, golfer
3:55:40 - Anthony Edwards, actor
3:56:12 - Will Ferrel, actor/comedian
4:12:06 - Kerri Strug, Olympic gymnast
4:14:54 - Sean (Diddy) Combs, rapper
4:29:20 - Oprah Winfrey, talk-show host
4:54:36 - Bill Frist, former Senate majority-leader
4:58:25 - Al Gore, former Vice-President
6:04:43 - David Lee Roth, rock musician
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Tags: beth ostrovsky, Brandi Chastain, celebrity marathon runners, celebrity marathon times, celebrity runner, ING New York City Marathon, katie holmes, kerri strug, Kim Alexis, lance armstrong, marathons, Mike Huckabee, News & Results, oprah winfrey, p diddy, Scarlett Johansson, Shannon Miller
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The Final Sprint
[…] Strug and Chastain will join global financial service leader ING and wear orange shoe laces to serve as ambassadors for the ING Run for Something Better, a national program that promotes youth fitness and provides funding for free … Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … […]
October 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pm[…] Former soccer star Brandi Chastain and former gymnastics sensation Kerri Strug, will trade in their old Team USA uniforms for orange running jerseys as they take on their next athletic challenge — the 2008 ING New York City Marathon. … Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … […]
October 28th, 2008 at 3:30 pm[…] Strug and Chastain will join global financial service leader ING and wear orange shoe laces to serve as ambassadors for the ING Run for Something Better, a national program that promotes youth fitness and provides funding for free … Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … […]
October 28th, 2008 at 4:43 pm[…] Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … Former soccer star Brandi Chastain and former gymnastics sensation Kerri Strug, will trade in their old Team USA uniforms for orange running jerseys as they take on their next athletic challenge — the 2008 ING New York City Marathon. … […]
October 28th, 2008 at 11:56 pm[…] Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … Last year’s edition of the race included seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and actress Katie Holmes. Other celebrities to run the NYC Marathon over the last few … […]
October 30th, 2008 at 3:29 am[…] Hollywood Stars, Olympic Medalists Lead Another Impressive Group … Last year’s edition of the race included seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, former Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and actress Katie Holmes. Other celebrities to run the NYC Marathon over the last few … […]
October 30th, 2008 at 3:29 am[…] Impressive Group of Celebrities Running NYC Marathon […]
November 2nd, 2008 at 6:57 am