GRAND LEDGE, Mich. — When her biggest race of the year was canceled, school secretary Laurie Mooney decided to bring the marathon right to her own neighborhood and raise money for a good cause.
Mooney says her passion for running started at a young age.
"I've been running since I was a kid and just over time I've been growing my distance," said Mooney.
She was set to run the world-renowned Boston Marathon this April and trained all throughout the year.
"My first time I ran, it didn't go as I had hoped, so I was kinda hoping for just like a redo," said Mooney.
The marathon was postponed to September because of the coronavirus pandemic. So was the Glass City Mercy Health Marathon in Toledo, OH that she was excited about.
"I had worked so hard I didn't just want to give it up," said Mooney.
Instead of wasting her intense training, Mooney decided to do the Glass City virtual marathon in Grand Ledge. She raised money for the Greater Lansing Food Bank in the process.
"Everything just changed for me. It changed the process and how it just felt," said Mooney.
Her friends wore masks and distanced themselves along the route. Some of her students at St. Michael Parish school made signs to cheer her on.
"It was really nice because it was mile 10 and in mile 22 these adorable signs that they made," said Mooney.
By the time she crossed the chalk finish line, Mooney raised more than $2,300 for the food bank. Her friend Michelle Lantz, who's also CEO of the food bank, says the money will provide 3,000 meals.
"Right now Greater Lansing Food Bank has seen an increase in the amount of people that we are serving to nearly double what we usually see and obviously with people having lost jobs as well as the regular folks that we normally see for any type of emergency that they're having. We knew the increase would be dramatic. We didn't know just how drastic it would be."
It wasn't the Boston Marathon but Mooney says she wouldn't have had it any other way.
"It was like the best race ever," said Mooney.
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