Caleb Ginsberg’s first New York City Marathon not only showcased great individual performance, but also an extensive fundraising effort for a worthy cause.
Ginsberg, a former catcher for Northeastern who graduated in 2007 with a business degree, was running to raise money for his foundation, Motivating Miles, which he founded with his mother last fall to raise money for cancer.
Ginsberg started the foundation last fall after three family members were diagnosed with cancer within the same week and began training with the intention to run in the marathon to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
He finished the race in 3:32.29 Sunday. His time ranked him 5,125 out of 39,000 people, or in the top 12 percent of all runners.
“It was awesome. The whole weekend was a great experience. The race went better than expected,” Ginsberg said Tuesday. “The race was an amazing event, [there was] so much fan support and a ton of family support.”
When he spoke to The News in July, Ginsberg said he was just getting underway in his training.
“The training went great in the earlier stages. Soon thereafter I got over the hump training wise,” he said to The News after the marathon. “I did a few 20 and 22-milers and continued for the full 18 weeks.”
In addition to his physical training, Ginsberg also spearheaded the fundraising efforts for his organization. He raised about $20,000 by race day and is still accepting donations until Christmas.
“I didn’t meet my initial goal, which was somewhere between 40 and 50 [thousand dollars]. Being in Tampa and working for the New York Yankees, it was tough. I certainly had to become proficient at multitasking, but I really did enjoy the fundraising,” he said.
His work in the Yankees’ baseball operations department in Tampa led him to bump into several players on rehab this past summer, including Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon, Joba Chamberlain and Chien Ming Wang.
“I struck up conversations with all of them. I was catching bullpens for [them],” Ginsberg said. “Each of them either donated, wore [one of the foundation’s] bracelets or spread word. Damon has his own foundation and had a number of [people on] his board of directors contact us to see where they could help out. It was nice of them to use their status to help us out.”
None of his three relatives with cancer could make it to the race. Ginsberg said his grandmother was recovering from an unrelated surgery, but was doing well. His aunt is i
n Italy doing well and enjoying success as an opera singer. His godfather is still battling cancer, but is displaying a remarkable sense of resiliency.
“He’s sick as a dog 24 hours a day, but you would never know it,” Ginsberg said of his godfather. “When you talk to him on the phone, the spotlight is never on him, he’s given me plenty of inspiration. He’s just a remarkable guy and is always in our thoughts.”
Ginsberg said he has plans to run in more marathons and continue his charity, although he isn’t yet exactly sure if he’ll tackle the Boston Marathon.
“The Boston Marathon has been on my mind, but I’m not sure just yet,” he said. “Myself, my immediate family and those who have supported us have a lot creative ideas flowing around. We just have to get in a centralized location and put everything together.”
