Daniel Island resident is running for an inspirational reason
Everyone running a marathon has a story. Daniel Island resident Angie Byrd’s marathon journey began last January after a ski accident left her unhurt, but fearful. A few days after the accident, Byrd opened up to her husband about how scared she was — not only about the accident, but skiing in general.
Byrd knew she had to face her fear. “For someone whose life’s work is mind training, coaching, and personal growth, this was something I knew I had to face. And living in Charleston, I knew I couldn’t face it by skiing through it … I had an idea. I would run a marathon,” explained Byrd.
The New York City Marathon on Nov. 3 will be the 50-year-old’s first. She will be running as part of a team for the charitable organization, the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project.
She chose the NYC venue because of the charity. Byrd and her husband, Scott, were introduced to the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project last year during the NYC marathon weekend.
After meeting the founder of Nyaka, Jackson Kaguri, Byrd was inspired to help. “Jackson’s personal story of growing up in Uganda, one of five children in a family of little means who went on to finish his education at Columbia University, is incredibly powerful. His father would take one pencil and break it into five pieces, each child getting a fifth of a pencil, to take to school. Jackson often says that because of a fifth of a pencil he was able to educate himself all the way through Columbia University, then go back and serve his community,” she said.
The Nyaka charity provides free education, nutritious meals, uniforms, educational supplies, and medical care to children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS. The organization also works with over 7,000 grandmothers who care for 43,000 HIV/AIDS orphans in the districts of Rukungiri and Kanungu.
Kaguri will also be participating in the NYC Marathon. He was recently selected as one of 26 inspirational runners to be on the official NYC Marathon Team, #MovedMe.
In Uganda there will be a “partnership” marathon happening during the NYC event.
“Just picturing all of us running and celebrating in NYC, and at the same time, those wonderful people in Nyaka will be running their own race, gives me chills,” exclaimed Byrd.
Running in hot humid weather isn’t easy, but Byrd keeps cool by focusing on the reason she runs. “It’s never been about me. It is about a community of children in a village in Uganda who need books and uniforms and clean water and a home to live in and an opportunity for education that they would never receive without this group… If all I have to do is get my body to run 26.2 miles and raise some money from some of the best people in the world, it’s the least I can do,” said Byrd.
To find out more about the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project, check out the website at https://www.nyakaschool.org. To make a donation and learn more about Byrd’s journey, go to https://www.instagram.com/angie.byrd/ or https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/nyakanyc2019/angie-byrd.