Former NFL running back Amani Toomer is going to run the New York City Marathon this year, and if you are running as well then he’ll be gunning for you!

Toomer is the first NFL player to run in 17 years, and he wants to raise money for New York Road Runners youth programs. To that end, he’s got the support of Timex, who will donate $1 for every person that Toomer beats to the finish line.

His goal is to run in less than 4 hours, but since he’ll be starting dead last that’s going to be a tall order as he’ll have to make his way through all of the crowds. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a 3 hour pace effort to run a 4 hour marathon if you are going to start behind 40,000 other runners and walkers.

On the topic of raising money for worthy charities, my friend John Tomac is finally making his return to the marathon. You may recall that I paced John in his first marathon, but what you may not realize is that before he could run it again he was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia.

His goal is to raise at least $3800 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society, so if you’d like to support a worthy cause and help him get to the marathon’s starting line you can do so here:

http://beatcancer.johnwtomac.com

John is a very talented illustrator (and is the creator of my logo!) so another way to help support him is to purchase a print of some of his work, all profits of which he will donate to his fund-raising efforts.

(More Info: NY Times – John Tomac – Photo Credit: Philip Nelson)