JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s not all first-timers who do the DONNA Marathon every year, especially since the DONNA Foundation says it sees runners from more than 20 different countries come to Northeast Florida just to take part.
But for some marathon vets, their excitement makes every race feel like their first.
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“The DONNA is just something that’s bigger than yourself,” Isabella Dunn, who’s about to run in her next DONNA Marathon, said. “It’s truly just humbling yourself to have a servant attitude towards others and, ultimately, just helping them out.”
Dunn and Bruce Aubley, another seasoned DONNA runner, set up shop at the DONNA Expo earlier Friday. The expo is both where runners go to pick up their race packets and where local shops give out everything from running shoes, hats, and skincare products.
SPOTLIGHT: DONNA Marathon weekend returns this weekend
“The DONNA got me addicted to running,” Aubley said. “It’s worth all the hard hours and training you have to put into it.”
Both Dunn and Aubley went to the expo after running the DONNA Foundation’s 3-mile “shakeout run” on Jacksonville Beach this morning, using part of the marathon course as a warm-up for race day.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, the namesake of the race, put some miles on her shoes after joining them.
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“This is a weekend that’s always such a reset for me because I’m reminded about how important this love and support and all those wonderful things are for all the people we care about,” Deegan said.
Deegan founded the DONNA Foundation in 2003 to raise money for those battling breast cancer and to support survivors. Deegan herself was diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 1999 and would face this challenge two more times, the Foundation said.
The organization said, to date, it has raised more than $4 million in its fight against the disease.
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Joan Benoit Samuelson, a former Olympic marathon runner who won the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, is returning to be part of this year’s DONNA Marathon weekend.
“What this race does, what this community does for DONNA’s run is just incredible,” Samuelson said. “Whatever you want to call it, it’s DONNA’s Run and I’m proud to be a part of it.”
The marathon weekend is building up to the DONNA Marathon and Half-Marathon, which starts Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Action News Jax will be there bringing you live coverage of the races.
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