“In 2006, I started running for a friend who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which is a rare blood cancer. She had been diagnosed years before but she had always seemed fine so I never really thought about it. When I saw her go through a stem cell transplant, where they basically beat your body down, strip you of your immune system, do the stem cell transplant and build you back up again. It’s a brutal process. I decided I wanted to do something just to support her. Then over the years, it just started to ramp up. I kept meeting more people involved with the organization and more people with the disease. As the events grew and got bigger with more attention, it just got to a point where I was running for this thing that was a whole lot bigger than I was.”

Eric Gelber is an executive vice president at CBRE. He is a father. He is a husband. For some of our focus, he is also quite an endurance athlete. Back in 2016, he ran 200 miles in Central Park to honor his friend Anita and raise money for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. As Anita bravely faced a cancer diagnosis, he took to running to raise money to aid in research, awareness and treatment. He ran marathons and ultra-marathons but his biggest feat was running about 33 times around Central Park’s outer six-mile loop. It didn’t come easy. He failed at it twice but never gave up.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about his work, how he juggles that work, run, life balance, overcoming failure and now raising more than 1.7 million dollars to fight multiple myeloma. You can watch a documentary about that 200 mile run on Amazon Prime, if you search 200 miles. It’s a great film. On Sept. 17, he will return to Central Park but not to run. He’s rowing 200 miles while at Engineer’s Gate. If you’re in the area, come out to row alongside him, cheer him on and learn more about his cause.

Follow Eric on Instagram | @justamiletogo.

Check out his fundraising efforts for his 200-mile row in Central Park.

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This is Runners of NYC. A podcast from CITIUS MAG. Hosts Zac Price and Chris Chavez look to bring you many of the untold stories behind luminaries and legends that make up New York City’s running culture. You can catch the latest episode of the podcast on iTunes so subscribe and leave a five-star review. We are also on Spotify!