NBA Enlisted 24 Players To Run New York City Marathon

The 2014 New York City Marathon was held on Sunday in the chilly Big Apple, and the NBA decided to get involved with the event. A group of 24 people–mostly former players with ties in the area–took turns running the 26.2 mile course, with Dikembe Mutombo finishing off the run in just over 4 hours and 48 minutes. The group also included NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who managed to run the first three miles. [photo: Alex Trautwig/Getty]
The event was staged to try to get kids to exercise according to the Associated Press and each of the 24 celebrities was joined by a local student. It is something that hopefully got more attention from the younger kids watching at home that they need to get out and move. The NBA was looking to reach nearly a half-million youngsters with the festivities.
It’s a novel idea that other cities should try when they have marathons to get more kids on the course to better health. The food have already become better for school lunches and now it is time for those same kids to be involved in sports and other activities where they aren’t sitting on the couch all day playing video games and eating chips.