Running for love, legacy, hope
Wintersville native preparing for Boston Marathon, raising money, awareness about ‘Cynthia’s Kitchen’s in memory of his best friend
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BLOOMFIELD, N.J. -- Wintersville native Carlin Long, a lifelong athlete, active charity volunteer and full-time physical therapy graduate student, will bring the hopes, goals and prayers of his Ohio hometown to the East Coast during the 127th Boston Marathon.
"Running the Boston Marathon will be one of the greatest privileges of my life," noted the 2018 graduate of Catholic Central High School. "It has been a dream of mine for several years to qualify for the Boston Marathon and run with the best athletes from all over the world. However, the Boston Marathon is more than just a race for me and so many others. Everyone who runs Boston has a story, personal goal or someone they are running for that day," commented Long.
A graduate student in the physical therapy doctorate program at Duquesne University and a Mary's Meals Ambassador (supporter), Long will run his first Boston Marathon on April 17, joining more than 30,000 runners from 100 countries for this world-renowned race.
Long's participation is unique in that it can take years and many races for runners to qualify for Boston. Yet, in his first live marathon less than one year ago, he qualified for the Boston Marathon in his 18-34 age group.
His journey to Boston began nearly a decade ago following the sudden loss of his best friend, fellow student and athlete Cynthia Phillipson in 2014. Phillipson, the daughter of Todd and Carol Phillipson, was a 15-year-old freshman at CCHS who went into cardiac arrest during basketball practice on Oct. 30, 2014. She died Nov. 2 at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.
The Wintersville and Steubenville communities came together in her memory and in support of her chosen charity, Mary's Meals that feeds hungry children where they learn in 18 countries. Nine years later, two school kitchens in Liberia bear Cynthia's name and feed 350 children every school day.
"The goal of Mary's Meals is to give these children an opportunity and uplift them and the entire community. It was a different approach by a charity that I had not heard of before. It was such a good idea," explained Long.
Founded in 2002 by Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, Mary's Meals offers a simple, locally managed solution to world hunger: feed children where they learn to enable the education that can help break the cycle of poverty.
Today, Mary's Meals provides life-changing meals to more than 2.4 million school children and its work is supported by thousands of volunteers in 18 affiliate countries like the U.S. "Mary's Meals as a provider of hope -- in the life of one child and in the world more broadly -- is more important than ever," noted Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder and CEO of Mary's Meals.
"And so are each of our actions in support of this mission -- no matter how small they might feel to us -- they are not small -- they are truly enormous in the life of that child," he said.
Fueled by his love for his friend and her growing legacy, Cynthia's Kitchen Project and his dedication to running, in 2020 and 2021, Long set up 26.2-mile home marathon routes following the marathon cancellations those years, in order to fundraise and to train to qualify for Boston.
Inspired by his faith, community and personal and professional goals, Carlin qualified for the Boston Marathon in last May's Pittsburgh Marathon with a time of 02:57:01 meeting the qualifying time of three hours for his age group.
"I feel incredibly blessed to honor and share the story of my best friend Cynthia, the Cynthia's Kitchen Project, and everyone's loved ones as I run from Hopkinton to Boston on April 17," Long said.
Years and many miles later, Long will run the Boston Marathon 2023 in continued support of the Cynthia's Kitchen Project, and to honor those who have died by wearing their names inscribed on memory sleeves.
In addition to Sponsor a Mile and donation opportunities, the Valley Wine Cellar, located at 825 Main St., Wintersville, will host a wine tasting fundraiser for Cynthia's Kitchen Project on, April 12 from 5 p.m. to 7pm. Tickets are $25, the cost to feed a child for one year through Mary's Meals.
The Boston Marathon is considered one of the top five most prestigious road races in the world and remains the oldest marathon since it began in 1897. It is held on what is known as Patriot's Day in Massachusetts marking the start of the Revolutionary War. The marathon route presents challenging terrain that crosses through eight cities and towns beginning in the town of Hopkinton and ending in the city of Boston 26.2 miles later.
To support Long's fundraising efforts, visit his Cynthia's Kitchen Project fundraising page at: https://www.marysmealsusa.org/en/fundraising/project/calin-long/the-cynthias-kitchen-project-4.
The Cynthia's Kitchen Project Facebook page will provide updates and messages from Long, with a link on that Facebook page in the upper left-hand corner to the above donation page as well -- https://www.facebook.com/thecynthiaskitchenproject18.