Marathon for Memories Raises Over $40,000 for Alzheimer Society of Oxford

Wednesday, 3 February 2021 05:49

George Papadakos raised over $40,000 for the Alzheimer Society of Oxford after running 15 full marathons last month.

TILLSONBURG - A Tillsonburg man raised over $40,000 and counting for the Alzheimer Society of Oxford County last month.

George Papadakos originally set out with a goal of running a marathon every single day during the month of January. He started off strong, doing 9 marathons in 9 days. At that point his body gave up on him a little bit and he did have to slow down, but the totals he did rack up are still extremely impressive.

"I ran 15 full marathons over the course of the 31 days and I ran a total of 827 kilometres for the month."

When Papadakos had to take some time off, to heal his body, community members stepped up and started running for him. He was blown away by the community support and donations are still coming in this week.

"I said this a 1,000 times, it's truly amazing, I'm still reflecting on the month that was and I am still getting cards in the mail and people reaching out to say thank you. When I first started this mission, it was me against the world and let's see how much money I can raise and 9 marathons in, I had to pivot and my community was right there, didn't miss a beat and for that I am eternally grateful and I love Tillsonburg and the community for sure."

When Papadakos did get back out on the road, he had even more supporters with people running with him, honking their horns and sending love through social media.

Papadakos and his family has always been big supporters of the Walk for Memories, so he decided to do this run, when he found out that event wouldn't be happening this year because of COVID-19.

"The society has been a huge part of our families lives. We have supported it for over 20 years. My wife has been a respite worker with them, she has volunteered with them. My daughter has been an active fundraiser for their Walk of Memories, which normally takes place in January, which is why we are doing the big marathon push in January. My wife lost a grandmother and an aunt to Alzheimer's and a dementia related disease as well."

We did ask him, if ever plans on doing anything like this again, and he said, if it's up to his wife, definitely not.

You can still donate to his page online here.