Soldier Runs Marathon In Memory Of Fallen Comrade

Michael Keilty, a class of 2000 West Point graduate, US Infantry Captain, and Bronze Star recipient (for service in Iraq), is currently simultaneously serving this country at war in Afghanistan and training to run a marathon to raise money for Americans wounded and killed in the wars. Keilty, who has never had a natural love of distance running has been traversing the mountains of Afghanistan to ensure he's in shape to run his first marathon in Philadelphia this November 18th ("The Race for Heroes"), while on an 2-week leave back to the States (his only official days off during his 14-month tour). Mike is running to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and to honor the memory of those killed in the wars, including fellow Chaminade graduae Mike LiCalzi, who was a resident of Garden City.

"What Mike is doing is unprecedented," says John Betz, a former US Marine and co-founder of TakePride, a company that has introduced a line of t-shirts as a symbol of support for this generation. In response to Mike's Race for Heroes, TakePride has created a special edition t-shirt from which 100 percent of the profits will be donated to charity (TakePride normally donates a minimum of 20 percent of profits from the sale of its shirts to charity). "Our mission is to inspire Americans to support the troops (both emotionally and financially) by relaying the real-life stories of US service-members so that people can connect to the humanity of those who serve. We believe that Mike's incredible story of serving at war while simultaneously raising money for charity will inspire Americans at a time when the public has been too quiet in support of our heroes," adds Betz.

The shirt inspired by Mike's Race for Heroes, entitled Our Best is exclusively available through the Special Edition section of www.TakePride.com