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Man To Run On Treadmill For 24 Hours To Fight Cancer

BALTIMORE (WJZ) --A Florida man is pushing himself to run 24 hours straight in Baltimore County all for a good cause.

Jonathan Wilson is the first to admit his first miles weren't for anyone but himself.

When he got out of the military back in 2002 he says he was overweight, had high blood pressure and wanted to run marathons like his dad.

So he set his sights on the Disney Marathon in his home state of Florida, but unfortunately no single slots were available, so he joined the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society team.

Jonathan is now the Executive Director of the LLS Maryland Chapter. He's running Tuesday for 24 hours at Charm City Run in Timonium in an effort to raise awareness for cancer.

"So this crazy idea of running for 24 hours was really to bring awareness to our mission for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society," said Wilson.

The event is called "24 Hours to Cure Cancer " and by the time it's all said and done, Jonathan will have run at least 100 miles for the great cause.

His goal is to raise $100,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Brown Advisory, Charm City Run, and LLS staff, volunteers and cancer survivors have already formed teams to try to beat him.

WJZ's Mark Viviano also joined in on the run on Tuesday.

Wilson says he has been training for the event by running two to three hours on the treadmill every evening, completing 60 to 70 mile training weeks.

Wilson has lost two grandparents and an uncle to cancer.

 

According to LLS, someone in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer approximately every three minutes. During the 24 hours that Jonathan will be on the treadmill, 480 people will find out they have cancer.

Wilson will stream his run on the event's website, you can WATCH LIVE HERE.

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