Wild Tomorrow Fund is super proud and excited for our biggest team of 30 charity runners hitting the streets tomorrow to run the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon! Read more about “Team Elephant” and why they’re running to help elephants and other threatened species in Africa.

*Elephants running at a waterhole. Photo credit by: Simone Sbaraglia/Wildscreen Exchange*

Team Elephant is ready to run the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon, taking place tomorrow, Sunday November 3rd! They will hit the streets, traversing all of New York’s five boroughs, ending victoriously after 26.2 miles, crossing the finish line in Central Park. It is the largest marathon in the world, and will have over 50,000 runners, over one million spectators, and 10,000 volunteers lining New York's streets!

The heart of the race is the charity partner program, creating purpose for runners and impact for communities locally and around the globe. Wild Tomorrow is proud to be one of 600 Official TCS New York City Marathon Charity Partners, with our team of 30 (our biggest to date!) running for us this year. Each runner raised a minimum of $3,500 each to earn their charity bib. Elephant-sized thanks to all of our 2024 Team Elephant marathon runners: Meriwether Morris, Wendy Hapgood, Alexandra Held, Christine Greybe Amy Friel, Natalia Mimran, Craig Turvey, Meredith Stuart, Monique Rafferty, Rowen Carrick, Brittany Gomez, Stephanie Gunn, Sebastian Geoffroy, Morgan Lehman, Jessie Wallace, Maria Fleischer, Carl Lake, John Betz, Emma Clifton-Smith, Lauren Hardison, Alvin Wijaya, Maximillian Oldham, Shao Peterson, Samantha Burke, Claire McElwain, Aaron Zuo, Matthew Jennings, Jackson Davis, Bo Donners, and Priscila Snel.

By participating in the TCS NYC Marathon, these runners are not only pushing their personal limits, but also striving to protect threatened species and the habitats they call home. Together, the team this year has raised an astonishing $190,000 to help us protect, restore and reconnect wild spaces (via our wildlife corridor!) for elephants and also leopards, rhinos, lions and other amazing species. Let's cheer them on as they run NYC’s streets with purpose for our planet’s wildlife.

”The runners of Team Elephant are using their passion to do something concrete to fight back against biodiversity loss which threatens our very own existence”, said Wild Tomorrow’s marathon program manager, Annic Ratiharison. “They fiercely believe that the protection and restoration of the natural world is crucial, which drives them to go beyond their best efforts to raise valuable funds. That’s why I am very proud of this team. Most of all, the marathon fosters a sense of community, bringing nature lovers and wildlife protectors together from all around the world. Together we know that there is hope for a wild future.”

“New York Road Runners is proud to support Wild Tomorrow’s Team Elephant and the incredible impact they make in the community as they raise important funds to benefit wildlife and wild places,” said Christine Burke, NYRR’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Runner Products. “The TCS New York City Marathon is the BEST DAY in New York, building communities and transforming lives through running, and provides participants a major platform to spotlight this specific cause that means so much to them.”

You can support the herd’s epic efforts by donating to the team. Let’s help push them to the finish line by surging to hit $200,000 raised (which is double our initial goal!)

DONATE TO TEAM ELEPHANT

Our runners’ efforts are personal on many fronts. In addition to the lofty goal of completing a marathon, our runners are also devoted elephant-lovers and wildlife conservationists. Here are a few of their moving stories.

Our top fundraiser for the team, Christine Greybe, serves on our US Board of Directors and is passionate about Wild Tomorrow’s mission. Most recently she joined us in the field to help remove fences at our expanding reserve in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. Christine is determined! She’s raised over $83,000 so far and won’t stop until she hits $100,000! She’s running for wildlife but also to celebrate her milestone birthday in peak fitness. Congratulations Christine!

Alvin Wijaya is our first runner to join us all the way from Indonesia, one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. For Alvin, our mission saving wild places rang true to his heart. “Deforestation and other business-related causes have degraded forests, aquifers, and even beaches. Places that were once thriving with animals and lush with trees, are becoming smaller and smaller. When I was looking into different charities to run for in the 2024 NYC Marathon, Wild Tomorrow and its mission echoed with my personal passion - saving the world's species for the next generations. I am honored to run as a Team Elephant member.”

*Annic, Bo, Max, Jackson and Carl on the steps of the Natural History Musuem today, running a quick ‘shake-out’ run together to loosen up for tomorrow!*

Rowen Carrick first came across Wild Tomorrow’s work after taking our co-founder Wendy Hapgood’s class on Sustainability Management at Columbia University. Rowen’s family is from South Africa and she’s personally volunteered hands-on to help rehabilitate wildlife (including vervet monkeys!). As a student, with friends who are all students, it can be hard to fundraise. Rowen found a solution that enlisted the help of animals and animal lovers: she hit her fundraising goal by dog-sitting across the summer! That’s a lot of hours and we hope she got lots of licks in return.

The first runner to cross the fundraising finish-line in record time was Carl Lake from Chicago who has a strong interest in helping to preserve wildlife in Africa. “It has been a long time dream and goal to run the NY marathon” said Carl, “and this way I can accomplish both at the same time. Helping and Running.”

Several runners joined our marathon team this year after ‘graduating’ from our United NY Half team in March! Jessie Wallace explained that, “as a plant based runner I always seek out charities that help protect and save animals, since we have to share this amazing world with them and they are just as important as we are! I was so inspired by running for Wild Tomorrow in the 2023 NYC Half Marathon and wanted to represent them again the best way I know how — by running!”

Stephanie Gunn (aka the Running Aussie) lives in New York and is devoted to her running, her dog Fredo, and helping animals. She also ran the half marathon for Team Elephant and continued with us to tackle her first full marathon! She was able to see elephants in their natural habitat while on safari in 2019. “Africa is such a special place and I love to raise awareness and funds to make sure these magnificent creatures and their habitats stay protected”.

For Shao Peterson, the protection of wildlife has always been of deep personal importance. Shao spent many summers visiting the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor New Jersey , which works to protect local wildlife. “Most notably, they have put in great efforts to protect the local turtle species by putting up borders on the causeway to prevent them from crossing the road. My parents have stopped their cars numerous times to assist small animals to safely cross the busy road, and it was through these efforts that I developed a passion for wildlife conservation.”

*It’s easy to see why* ***Samantha*** *chose to run for Team Elephant!*

Samantha Burkes’ favorite experiences have been in Africa, where she saw first-hand the interconnections between conservation and community development. “No one has greater stakes in preserving local habitats and ecosystems than the communities that live alongside these habitats and ecosystems” says Samantha. “By connecting conservation with community action, you are allowing for a greater opportunity for conservation success, in addition to economic development within the community. It is exciting to see that Wild Tomorrow is working on making these important connections.”

Morgan Lehman is embarking on a different type of marathon effort, working towards a PhD in Geography with a focus on Arctic marine systems. Morgan is very passionate about environmentalism and the preservation of biodiversity. “I love that Wild Tomorrow focuses both on the restoration and preservation of biodiversity as well as on helping local communities through job creation. I feel strongly about fundraising for an organization whose values I share.”

This year we had 4 runners join us from TINICUM, our race sponsor thank to partners Seth Hendon (Wild Tomorrow’s Chairman), Bob Kelly and Eric Ruttenberg. Tinicum employee and cheetah-fast runner, Aaron Zuo, is a repeat Team Elephant runner and is happy to dedicate his run to the preservation of wildlife. “I haven't had the chance in my life to see elephants, zebras, and giraffes in their wild habitats” explains Aaron, “but I want to help preserve that opportunity for myself and future generations. Wild Tomorrow has an incredible goal and I'd be so grateful to run with the team again this year.”

We also send gratitude to our new sponsor this year, XHEMA, who made sure our team looks extra sharp by covering our t-shirt printing costs as part of their sponsorship donation. Thank you Mark, Pierre and Xhema.

Plus all of our runners got a little extra caffeine with added electrolytes thanks to Long Run Coffee.

DONATE TO TEAM ELEPHANT

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!

TEAM ELEPHANT RUNS THE 2024 TCS NYC MARATHON