TEAM ELEPHANT IS READY FOR THE 2022 TCS NYC MARATHON

Wild Tomorrow Fund is proud and excited for our team of 14 charity runners who are ready to run this year’s New York City Marathon! Read more about “Team Elephant” and why they’re running to help elephants and other threatened species.

“Run ele, run!” by Wild Tomorrow Fund Ambassador, Shannon Wild

We are incredibly proud of our team of 14 runners who will run the New York City marathon this Sunday, November 6th. Funds raised by the team will help us to save and restore our wildlife corridor in South Africa, which will expand and reconnect wild space for elephants, rhinos, leopards, lions and other threatened species including dwarf chameleons, precious orchids and other ‘little things’ that matter just as much.

Our runners have dedicated their run to personally fighting back against the loss of our planet’s precious wildlife and wild places in southern Africa. They’re supported by our amazing team sponors at TINICUM including partners Seth Hendon and Robert Kelly. Thank you!

Here are some of our runner’s stories.

James Hines is our top fundraiser in the team, raising an amazing $3750 so far for African wildlife! He’s a big animal lover, David Attenborough fan, and the Dog Dad of a beloved cavapoo. He’s running both for biodiversity and the climate. “I’m running for the Wild Tomorrow Fund because it is important to do our part to preserve wild life” said James, “The current climate crisis stands to potentially drive millions of species to extinction, and it is imperative that we do our part to help raise funds to help this fund and continue David Attenborough’s legacy.” Thank you James for your commitment to protecting our planet’s incredible biodiversity, and putting that commitment into action by running the marathon for Wild Tomorrow Fund.

Jeff Steen together with Wild Tomorrow Fund’s Tori Gray and a rhino dehorned, and saved from poachers, thanks to Jeff and PARCA.

We have a very special runner in the team this year, a wildlife ranger who works not in Africa but in PA! Jeff Steen is the Deputy Game Warden for Pennsylvania Game Commission and is passionate about the protection of Rhinos. He is a Board member of our partner, PARCA, the Philadelphia Rhino Conservation Association, whose motto is, “Saving rhinos, one horn at a time”.

Jeff has been an incredible supporter of Wild Tomorrow Fund for several years. He ran the half marathon for Team Elephant this March, and joined us in the field for the second time this July together with a team from PARCA.

Thanks to the funds raised by Jeff in his half marathon for Wild Tomorrow Fund, we were able to sponsor a new solar system for government rangers at Ezemvelo Wildlife KZN’s Mkhuze Reserve. Jeff was able to see the system in person, and meet the Reserve Manager - a wonderful moment that saw rangers meeting across international boundaries, supporting each other, protecting rhinos and all species that share their ecosystems.

Jeff Steen, shoulder to shoulder with Wild Tomorrow Fund’s rangers, Zamani and Sam.

Daniel Koch - animal lover and marathon runner!

A quick glimpse at Daniel Koch’s fundraising page profile and it’s clear he is an animal lover! “Although I have never been to southern Africa, growing up I was especially fond of the flora and fauna in that region--endlessly watching Planet Earth and other shows that gave me a glimpse into what life was like for these animals” said Daniel, “I am running to make a difference in these animals' lives by partnering with Wild Tomorrow and serving as an Ambassador for the fund for not only this race but many more other events to come.” Thank you Daniel!

Daniel is one of several friends who are running in Team Elephant together, alongside Noah Agarwal and Lee Shapiro. Noah’s family have been big supporters of Wild Tomorrow Fund and our rewilding work, including sponsoring the reintroduction of a giraffe in 2017, now named Muki after their beloved cat. Lee is excited to run for Wild Tomorrow Fund’s mission and also was inspired by family friend, our Chairman Seth Hendon, and his passion for the cause.

Jeff Steen and Laura - ready to run after Italian carb-loading before the race!

Laura Theiss from Denver Colorado is passionate about the conservation of open spaces and protecting endangered species from going extinct. “As someone who loves elephants, giraffes, birds, and other African animal populations, conservation is very important to the world.” Thank you Laura for standing up, and running 26.2 miles for threatened species and their threatened habitats!

Teachers play a very important role, educating the future stewards of the planet about the importance of protecting animals, especially threatened and endangered wildlife. Heather Williams is a teacher based in Ontario, California. She flew cross-coast to join Team Elephant for her 6th marathon run! On joining Team Elephant she said, “I want my students to see how I can make an impact because I am hoping to raise a generation that also wants to make a difference. I am proud to wear the Team Elephant t-shirt as I run through the streets of New York.”

Heather Williams is teaching her students about the importance of protecting endangered species - while running marathons for wildlife! Go Heather!

Elizabeth Kerrigan is another runner who is running twice for Team Elephant this year - first in the half, and now the full marathon! She cares deeply care about our mission and how it helps both animals and the surrounding communities. She is an animal lover too and also fighting for the abolition of carriage horses in NYC. An animal hero - thank you Elizabeth!

For runner James Coleman from New York, he never thought he’d run a marathon. And now he’s running his first for Wild Tomorrow Fund tomorrow! “I am so happy to say that I am running with team Wild Tomorrow because their mission is so crucial and if you know anything about me, I love animals”.

Thomas Harrison was originally signed up to run in 2020 until COVID hit and changed everything. Not to be deterred, he’s now running this year instead - also his first marathon! Thomas is an avid runner, and loves to create a wider impact with his running by raising awareness amongst friends and family about how they can help protect endangered species and ecosystems.

Matt McDavitt - running for wildlife and working in the green energy transition for our planet’s renewable future!

Matt McDavitt first heard about Wild Tomorrow Fund while in class, doing his Masters in Public Administration, Environmental Science & Policy at Columbia University. He ended up in the class of Professor Wendy Hapgood, the co-founder of Wild Tomorrow Fund. While he qualified on the race on his own steam, he wanted to dedicate his run to a cause that meant a lot to him - wildlife protection. Matt’s now working in the green energy sector, helping to fight climate change - which helps to protect biodiversity. It’s his second marathon and we’re so proud he’s running for Team Elephant!

Ryan Tsang is flying in from Columbus Ohio to run for the team. He believes that we all must do more work to help protect animals around the world because we are all part of Mother Earth. For Asher Williams, a new transplant to NYC from the west coast, her goal was to challenge herself while helping a good cause - the protection of African wildlife.

And last but not least, our very own Wild Tomorrow Fund staff member, Annic Randriamampianina! Annic was born and raised in Madagascar, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, famous for its incredible lemurs, fossas, chameleons and baobab trees. Sadly, similar to the challenges facing the fauna and flora of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, Madagascar’s unique biodiversity is also under urgent threat from deforestation, hunting and the illegal trade in wildlife. “Growing up in Madagascar, I have cultivated a love of wildlife and animals but also witnessed the challenges of biodiversity and habitat loss locally mainly from wildfires and hunting. In the past years, I have actively sought ways to become more directly involved in advocating for our planet and its inhabitants. I have been personally impressed with the deep impact Wild Tomorrow Fund has had in Africa.” Read more about Annic in our blog post here.

As a community-level partner, Wild Tomorrow Fund’s “Team Elephant” runners must each raise $3,000 to help us protect wildlife and wild places in southern Africa. Together, the team of runners are aiming to surpass their goal of a collective $60,000 for wildlife! You can check out our team page here and donate in support of their run.

If you are in NYC or tuning in to watch the race on ABC7NY (includes a live stream on their website), please cheer for our runners, and look out for their blue “Team Elephant” t-shirts! Here’s more information on how to watch the race both nationally and internationally.

We send special elephant-sized thanks to our sponors at TINICUM.

 
 
Wild Tomorrow Fund