THE MARATHON PROJECT

Pilot project or new program

LA ENDURANCE SPORTS CONSULTING

The Marathon Project is indeed a collaborative proposal, unilaterally spearheaded by Iyob Tessema & his organization: LA ENDURANCE SPORTING GROUP. Reporting to the Ethiopian Community in Los Angeles (ECLA), he is tasked with comprehensively planning, directing, and otherwise managing all three phases of this project: Introductory, Implementation & Conclusion. ECLA will assist with any/all collaborative efforts with other African and African-American Communities, but Iyob & his group are solely responsible for building and maintaining newly formed relationships, and in all mutually beneficial work efforts. Needless to say, Iyob & his group will also act as trainers, coaches, mentors & guidance counselors to the 50-100 directly preparing, and ultimately participating in the 2021 LA Marathon.

The context of my “Marathon Project” is very clear. Whereas sports in general has been universally recognized as a unifier of communities, nations & the world; it has also been proven as a guarantor of physical, mental & emotional health/wellness. Even though black people have historically achieved excellence in a variety of sports for decades everywhere; the marginalized Ethiopian, other African & African-American communities who have long established themselves in Los Angeles, have unfortunately been left behind in their youth & adult sports participation levels. Disabling facts showing lack of participation in healthy/active lifestyles have led to alarming levels of obesity, diabetes and other diseases, but my project can contribute toward ameliorating this scourge. There is a strong need to encourage these marginalized communities to participate in a newly established marathon running program, which plans to diligently train them to successfully complete the Los Angeles Marathon.

In addition to the directly specific, and life enhancing impact this project is going to have on the marathon participants themselves, the broader impact will be felt throughout the indirect beneficiaries of all three target communities: Ethiopian, other African & African American communities. Moreover, through this active life style choice, the overall health & wellness improvements of the directly & indirectly served population in all three communities can be measured by assessing the one year time period of statistical outcomes recorded in the fight against various mental, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure & other related illness levels in the city of Los Angeles for a 1 year period (before & after effects).

This project is envisioned to elevate the marginalized Ethiopian, other African and African-American communities from abysmal levels of unhealthy lifestyles, by successfully establishing and maintaining an annual “Marathon Running Program.” This project will provide an accessible opportunity for youth/adults in these communities to train for & successfully participate in the annual Los Angeles Marathon. The immediate goal is to secure a winning grant of $100K from this grant challenge in the “Play” category, and to establish the structure & management of a 26-week running program from September 2020 through March 2021. This program aims to register, train/prepare, and enable 50-100 members aged 16 and above, to complete the 2021 LA Marathon race, free of charge. The long term goal of this project also purports to meaningfully contribute to measurable health and wellness improvements within these affected communities, and will collaborate in various efforts to fight obesity, diabetes, mental health and other diseases. Outcomes will be tracked through the various means/ways used to disseminate information throughout these communities, recruitment and registration of participants committed to a myriad of activities, as well as traditionally keeping attendance, depth of participation records (e.g. types & hours of participation per member, before/after program lifestyle changes, etc). If project is renewed, it will also be possible to track retention levels over multiple years.

LA is the healthiest place to LIVE