Palm Harbor, Florida — Outside Joe Rosenberger’s work as a Data Analyst, he’s an avid runner. Rosenberger decided to combine two things he holds dearly by putting on his own fundraising campaign. He’s preparing for a 12-hour run and embarked on a goal to raise $1,111 to donate to Special Olympics Florida. Joe named his personal running campaign and event Sunrise to Sunset – A Run for the Red. He plans to set out on this 12-hour run March 5th at 6:30am starting at the Pier in downtown St Petersburg, FL finishing at Sunset Beach, Tarpon Springs, FL.
According to their website, Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Those activities give them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship.’
This fundraising run is a personal effort that Rosenberger has been preparing for mentally and physically for 4 months. “The maximum number of miles I ran before this campaign was a 31-mile ultra-marathon.” With a drive to do more for the community and push his own limits, Rosenberger explained “I just wanted to kind of test it out and put it out there and see if I can get some good community support going. I thought I’d do my part in a little more of a unique way. Sometimes watching your friends suffer through a grueling physical activity compels you to reward them somehow. So, I thought I’d give it a shot,” Joe said with a humble laugh.
Joe first got into running about 10 years ago to lose some weight. He started participating in the occasional 5K and then other races of increasing mileage until 2021, when he ran his second Ultra Marathon. “After that, I thought, ‘what’s next?’ There is something amazing that happens when you push the human limit and therefore learn more about the human condition,” Rosenberger said.
Joe has raised $1,201 surpassing his $1,111 goal as of January 24, 2022. He expects to run upward of 60 miles on March 5th, 2022. To sponsor his run with an online donation, visit the Sunrise to Sunset Go Fund Me at https://www.gofundme.com/f/sunrise-to-sunset-a-run-for-the-red.
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