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Josh Lipowsky

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Josh Lipowsky

Ten years after I first ran the New York Marathon, I am doing it again. I am undertaking this physical and fundraising challenge because this is a very personal cause for me.

In August 1986, shortly after I turned 5 years old, I was taken to the hospital for surgery to remove a cystic cerebellar astrocytoma. That October, I was back in the hospital for severe hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the brain, an effect of the astrocytoma. My neurosurgeon at Columbia Medical Center put in a shunt to relieve the pressure, but I would be back in the hospital two more times for shunt revisions before I turned 6. Before I turned 14, I would be back in the hospital six more times.

Throughout all of it, my mom was by my side. She stayed in the hospital, sleeping on a fold-out cot every night. Each time. For nine years.

My mom, Trudy Lipowsky, passed away in August 2021 from cancer. She had lived most of her life with Crohn’s Disease, which made her more susceptible to abdominal cancers. In addition to being with me throughout my hospitalizations, watching her child go through incredible suffering, she had her own history of teenage hospitalization from her own illness.

I first ran the New York Marathon in 2013 for a different charity and didn’t think I would do it again. After my mother’s passing in 2021, I wanted to do something to honor her memory. And that is why I am running the 2023 New York Marathon for Chai Lifeline, a wonderful organization dedicated to helping very sick children and their families. My family and I are acutely aware of what these families are going through, so I am running to raise awareness and critical funds for Chai Lifeline’s crucial emotional, social, and financial assistance to more than 5,900 children and their families. Whether it’s counseling, case management, crisis and trauma intervention, meals delivered to hospitals and homes, transportation to medical appointments, insurance advocacy, i-Shine afterschool programming, Big Brothers and Sisters, or its medically supervised Simcha summer camps, Chai Lifeline’s innovative services help families navigate the complexities of childhood illness and restore joy and happiness.

Trained as a pathologist, mom retired to stay home with me when we moved to Pennsylvania in 1989. But whether it was chaperoning my field trips or volunteering for the local synagogue, Hadassah, Hillel, or local museums, she was always involved and working for charitable causes. And I’m following that example by pushing myself to complete this race. Training is not easy, but neither is dealing with illness. If the children of Chai Lifeline can fight each day, if they can push themselves through hospital stays and treatments, I can do this for them. But I can't do this without your support. I need your help to raise as much money as possible for these kids. I’ve set a challenging goal for myself to support Chai Lifeline. Your generous donation will help me move closer to my goal and make a difference in the lives of so many sick children. Let's do this together!

This is for you, Mom.

Thank you all for your support.

Best - Josh