New York Auction Winner Runs Volkswagen Prague Marathon

After watching the New York City Marathon twenty years ago and noting how the City came to a standstill with crowds of people encouraging the runners and enjoying the celebration Kim Puntillo decided to train for and run her first marathon in 1995. 

She enjoyed the training and the camaraderie of the experience so much she decided to continue, but before completing her second NYC marathon in 1996 she learned of a man who had run a marathon on all seven continents. 

Only two years later the New York City resident and New York Road Runners member became the first woman to complete that feat.  Her first non New York marathon took place on King George Island in Antarctica.  After races in London, Nepal (the Everest Marathon), Tanzania (Kilimanjaro), and Australia (Sydney) she completed the ultimate international running tour in South America in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires. 

She is assured of being the answer to a road running statistician's trivia question for the very foreseeable future.  Who was the first woman member of the Seven Continents Club?  She has since also added very adventurous runs on the Great Wall in China and the Medoc Marathon in France which features French wineries supplying the drinks stations. 

When Kim saw the opportunity to place a bid on a trip to run the Volkswagen Prague Marathon at a silent auction being held by the New York Road Runners to raise funds for the their children's running programs she definitely felt a need to participate.  Her maternal Grandparents were Czech and she had only visited the Country once before. 

As the winning bidder at the auction Kim enjoyed a VIP visit to the 2013 Volkswagen Prague Marathon where she mingled with the other guests including Mary Wittenberg, the President of the New York Road Runners.  Ms. Wittenberg was in Prague to attend the annual meeting of the IAAF Road Running Commission and she also decided to run the Marathon, her first one in nineteen years. 

Ms. Puntillo's trip to Prague was a joint effort of the New York Road Runners and the Prague International Marathon as a part of the RUNCZECH Running League's continued cooperation and engagement with the international running community. 

According to Cliff Sperber  the NYRR Vice President in charge of Youth and Community Services, The Road Runners will use the funds raised in the auction to help "more than 150,000 kids — many with little or no access to organized athletics — engage in running-based activities which improve fitness, build character and fight obesity". 

Carlo Capalbo, the Chair of the RunCzech Running league, stated "We are happy to contribute to this worthy program which mirrors some of our own efforts here in the Czech Republic and continues to cement a growing relationship with our friends in New York."

Veronika Honsová