Running a marathon had long been on Mountain View resident Jeanette Spivey’s bucket list. So when her next-door neighbor Namrata Agrawal asked her about participating in the July 24 San Francisco Half Marathon, the 60-year-old Spivey jumped at the chance to accomplish her goal while working for a good cause.
Spivey joined Agrawal’s running group, Bay Area Run for India, which was raising money for the Association of India’s Development (AID). They have been training since the end of February for the event.
Spivey participated in a half-marathon – 13.1 miles. She came in 31st out of 37 participants in the 60-64 age category. On her own, she raised $650 for the cause.
The 40- to 50-member group combined raised nearly $50,000.
Founded by Indian expats 30 years ago, AID supports projects that promote education for underserved communities, among others. AID’s work impacts an estimated 1,500 villages, 8,000 schools and more than 2 million children.
Harish Ramadas of Palo Alto, president of AID – Bay Area, said the organization works on projects ranging from health care to education and social justice.
“Our role is to provide basic support to communities on the ground,” he said.
Money raised goes a long way to help India’s underserved, Ramadas added.
“You can feed one person two square meals with $1,” he said.
Spivey, who has lived in Mountain View 25 years, was in decent shape already, having practiced taekwondo the past 12 years. But she was up for the endurance challenge the half-marathon posed.
“When I could see the finish line, I almost started to cry,” she said. “I actually finished the darn thing.”
For more information, visit aidbayarea.org.
