Whether it’s taking care of the kids, balancing a career and family, juggling busy schedules or waking up at the crack of dawn to fit in a run, these days, women basically do it all. This year, Foot Locker pays homage to all of the truly outstanding “Marathon Moms” throughout the city by making it the theme of the Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge at this year’s ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov.1.

For the tenth consecutive year, Foot Locker is proud to unite five total strangers, one from each of the five boroughs, to participate in this unique “race within a race.” The team of runners must run together for the first 13 miles of the marathon, and then they can break away for the remainder of the race. The runner in the group who finishes the marathon in the fastest time will become the Foot Locker Five Borough Challenge Champion, winning a Tiffany trophy and city-wide bragging rights.
These five inspiring women — all unique and outstanding in their own right — are hard working, determined and possess all of the attributes of a true “marathon mom.” They are:
Bronx- Jessica LeBron – single mom working in the advertising field
Brooklyn- Dorothy McPhee – mother of two and Dean at the NY Harbor School
Queens- Angela Gonzalez – single mother of two, full-time communications executive and running coach
Staten Island- Lisa Stavros DeFillipo – mother of two and personal trainer
Manhattan- Allyson Hentel-Koplin– mother of two and psychologist.                 

This year, our Five Borough Challenge team proved to be quite exceptional by embracing a sixth member, Beth Segaloff, to run alongside them during the race. Beth lost her fiancé, Captain Ben Sklaver, three weeks ago while he was deployed in Afghanistan. In an effort to help Beth through her tragic loss, best friend and Manhattan representative Allyson Hentel-Koplin, reached out to Foot Locker and NYRR so that Beth wouldn’t have to run the marathon alone, a feat that she considered unimaginable at this time. With the collaborative support of her best friend and the rest of the moms, Beth will become an honorary member of the team.

*photo credit: NYRR