CHARITY

Aloha Joe Marathon raises over $4K

By ALEX SPONSELLER
Posted 6/4/20

By ALEX SPONSELLER Last week's first Non-Annual Aloha Joe Marathon was a success, raising roughly $4,700 toward helping local first responders. The race was a one-man show organized by the lone participant, "e;Aloha"e; Joe Sullivan, whose name comes from his

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CHARITY

Aloha Joe Marathon raises over $4K

Posted

Last week’s first Non-Annual Aloha Joe Marathon was a success, raising roughly $4,700 toward helping local first responders.

The race was a one-man show organized by the lone participant, “Aloha” Joe Sullivan, whose name comes from his assortment of Hawaiian shirts.

Sullivan, 38, is an avid racer, having run 23 marathons prior to Monday’s, and has a goal of running a marathon in every U.S. state. He was training for this year’s Boston Marathon as well as the Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth prior to the races being postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis.

In response, Sullivan decided to organize his own marathon right in his Oakland Beach neighborhood, where he would run 105 laps equaling 26.2 miles and raise funds toward helping members of the Warwick Police and Fire departments, as well as Kent Hospital.

He was raising money through GoFundMe as well as Facebook prior and during the event and is still accepting donations. The funds will go toward paying for meals prepared by Dave’s Bar & Grill, while Stop & Shop is set to donate beverages to the cause.

During the marathon, a small group of family and friends made the trip to cheer Sullivan on, while other passers-by stopped to show their support and donate.

“It was good, we had a good group of people here, standing six feet apart and following social distancing. The run went pretty good, it was a little bit humid down here being right on the water. Personally, it was a little bit tricky because I would feel like I was just getting going but then I'd have to slow down and turn which I am not really used to. When I do my training runs, I usually go 10 miles straight out. I think that’s what led to me getting a nice little blister,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan had a brief scare in the final portion of his training when he pulled a calf muscle just days prior to the race, forcing him to push it off for one week. However, with the help of his fiancée and massage therapist Jen Ofstein, he was able to push through the race and finish with a time of 4 hours, 20 minutes and 49 seconds.

“I didn’t think I was [100 percent], and I would say I got about three, four miles in but then it started to warm up quite a bit. I got a little bit crampy with the humidity, but I was happy to not have to have that injury flare up again,” Sullivan said. “I’m always kind of ready to go to jump into training for another marathon. My goal is 30, 40 miles a week when I’m not training and then I go up from there. When I am training I am really ramping up the miles, it only takes me 8-10 weeks to get ready for a race.”

The next step is having the meals prepared and making his rounds to the local stations. Sullivan is excited with the turnout and is hoping to raise even more money while the next phases are being planned.

“I have never done something like this, so I didn’t really know what to expect, so Jen and I are really thrilled with that number. I think that it is going to do a lot of good for a lot of people,” Sullivan said. “Organizing was step 1, doing the race was step two, so now we’re looking forward to step three, which is contacting the police and fire stations, Kent County Hospital, getting numbers and breaking it up to see what we can deliver. Donations are always welcome, every dollar counts.”

To donate, visit the First Non-Annual Aloha Joe Marathon on GoFundMe or visit Friends of Aloha Joe Sullivan on Facebook.

Aloha Joe, marathon, charity

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