New York City, New York Nov 7, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - On Sunday, November 6, 2022, less than four months after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke, New York City resident and Nashville-bred author and playwright Sékou Write completed the New York City Marathon, raising $13,708 during the marathon to benefit Transformation Life Center, a nonprofit organization that transforms the lives of youth living in underserved communities through education, leadership, health, and wellness. The live fundraising effort via www.givemethewin.com was an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the “most money raised whilst running a marathon distance.”
Sékou began running and raising funds for the unhoused in 2020 and launched HERO-branded hoodies, a clothing line that donates one hoodie to the unhoused for every hoodie purchased. After a successful round of sales, he decided to take the one-for-one model to a new endeavor - running one mile a day. On June 1, 2021, inspired by the Nashville Chapter of Black Men Run, Sékou began running one mile daily during his birthday month. By July 14, 2022, he had run for 409 consecutive days covering more than 1,000 miles across 12 different cities and raising over $7K for several nonprofits that serve the unhoused. Sékou kept the run streak going, and the Sékou HERO Charity Run was born. Over time, he ran up to half a marathon.
On June 1, 2022, Sékou set out to use his birthday month again to give back, this time by running and raising $4,000 for Back On My Feet - a national nonprofit fighting homelessness. His efforts qualified him to register for the New York City Marathon. But unfortunately, on July 14, 2022, while overseeing a graduation ceremony for a summer youth program at Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., he suffered a hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain).
While hospitalized for three weeks, Sékou seemed unlikely to fulfill his dream of making it to the marathon. However, daily physical, cognitive, occupational, and speech therapy, along with a determined mind and spirit, gave Sékou the confidence to accomplish his goal of completing the New York City marathon.
Sékou has pushed through soreness, pain, sickness, fatigue, depression, inclement weather, the pandemic, and many other obstacles to keep his run streak going.
“If you told me I could do ANY of this, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Sékou about his pivot into being a charity runner. “One of the biggest lessons for me is that I’m capable of more than I ever understood.”
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About Sékou Writes
Born in Roxbury, MA, and residing between New York City and Nashville, TN, Sékou is a Morehouse graduate who has created content over the past 25 years for a wide range of magazines, newspapers, websites, and other outlets, including Essence and Uptown Magazine. In addition, he has ghost-written a NY Times bestseller, performed Off-Broadway, wrote and produced his stage play, and created the HERO clothing brand, which provides new clothes for members of the unhoused community. He also hosts the Be Your Own HERO Show on the New Thought Media Network (reruns).
About Transformation Life Center
Transformation Life Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 26-3906467) that ignites (purpose), inspires (success), and transforms the lives of collegiate students and youth living in underserved communities through education, leadership, health, and wellness. The organization has launched and successfully run such initiatives as the Steps of Success 5K, Pathway to Success Leadership Academy, and Black Men run Brown Boys Read.
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