The Izzo Brothers Are Running 375 Miles on Treadmills to Raise Money for Team for Kids. Then, They'll Tackle the Marathon
What’s another 375 miles when you are each already signed up to run 26.2?
Paul, Stephen, and Matt Izzo—yes, they are brothers—are raising money for NYRR Team for Kids (TFK), New York Road Runners’ in-house charity, in celebration of 20 years of youth running. Their goal is to raise $120,000 toward the next 20 years.
All three brothers will run on side-by-side treadmills at the TCS New York City Marathon Expo Presented by New Balance for its three days at the Javits Center. The treadmills will be located near the Name Wall at the expo. Each brother expects to run 45 miles on both Thursday, October 31, and Friday, November 1, when the expo is open for 10 hours, and 35 miles during the eight hours of the expo’s final day on Saturday, November 2, for a total of 375. Then on Sunday, November 3, all three will join more than 50,000 other runners at the start line of the TCS New York City Marathon.
That makes 151.2 miles per brother. Casual.
And if you need a shakeout run, you can join them. Expo attendees can donate $20 to jump on one of two treadmills alongside the brothers. All proceeds will go to Team for Kids to support youth running programs. The Izzo brothers also raised money for TFK to run the marathon itself.
The Izzos are not crazy. In fact, they are remarkably clear-headed about their endeavor and their goals. They share a deep passion for helping kids start running, and money raised by TFK helps fund NYRR’s running-based fitness, goal-setting, and nutrition programs benefiting nearly 250,000 students in schools and communities across the United States.
Each of them has small children—Stephen, 37, and Paul, 39, are dads to three kids each, while Matt, 33, has two. “As fathers,” Matt said, “we want to lead and give those examples to our kids.” They were introduced to TFK when Paul’s wife Kyra ran the New York City Marathon in 2017 for the charity, and knew when they chose to run New York themselves that it would be through TFK.
“We were all familiar with TFK as an official NYC marathon charity,” Matt said,” but we were really inspired after [NYRR’s Vice President, Youth & Community Runner Engagement] Michael Rodgers told us more about what they do. It’s an amazing cause that aligns perfectly with us!”
The older Izzo brothers began running as teenagers who’d moved a lot—their father was a two-star general in the U.S. Army—and were looking for an activity that would help them make friends at a new school. Paul changed schools four times in high school and ran for all four.
“The dreadful thing as a new kid is lunch on the first day,” Stephen said. Cross country was a fall sport and practices began in the summer. Stephen signed up for the team so he could meet people and avoid cafeteria isolation once school began.
Matt, who didn’t start running until after college, was drawn into marathoning after Paul rediscovered running as an adult and ran his first marathon in 2010. The spirit of filial competition roped in Stephen.
“I couldn’t be the only one who hadn’t run a marathon,” Stephen said. While the three are close, they do not live near one another—Stephen lives in Ponte Vedra, FL, Paul in Houston, and Matt in Austin, TX—and they use races as an excuse to see each other more often.
While the brothers run similar paces and often race near one another, they are competitive among themselves. Paul recently took the marathon record from Matt with a 3:02 that qualified him for the 2020 Boston Marathon. “The three of us push each other to do the next challenge,” Stephen (who holds the 50-miler record) said.
Hence, ultramarathons. “Probably less than a year before I ran my first ultra, I wasn’t really aware that there was a race longer than a marathon,” Stephen said. But the brothers ran a 50-miler in Key West less than a year after Stephen first laced up his shoes again. Less than a year after that, they ran a 100-miler in Vermont together. “Under 100 miles, we race each other,” Matt said. “100 miles, we run together.” Collectively, the brothers have run 15 100-milers, 14 50-milers, and 51 marathons. “A marathon is a long way,” Paul said, “but you can push your body so much further.”
Which brings them to the treadmills at the expo at the Javits Center, and 125 miles of running in place over three days (to say nothing of the 26.2 through the city on Sunday). The brothers do not expect to be bored, however. As runners hop on the treadmills with them, they will hear stories. Stories that, like the marathon itself, will move them, inspire them, exhilarate them, wow them.
Those stories, and the sense of community they foster, said Paul, are a hallmark of the tight-knit ultrarunning community that the brothers hope to bring to marathoning as well. The brothers’ treadmill act was first staged in Paul’s hometown of Houston during the Chevron Houston Marathon in January. “It was really cool to connect with runners from all over the country and hear their stories,” he said. “I’m looking forward to that in New York.” One he remembers particularly well is a former colleague, a one-time athlete who had gotten out of shape and signed up for and ran a half-marathon after a stint on the treadmills with the Izzos. “I know we inspired a handful of folks,” Paul said.
Matt said he had been able to connect with people he followed on social media, or who followed the brothers on one of their accounts, and enjoyed interacting with them.
For Stephen’s part, he said he found that the treadmills created “a mob of energy and positivity” that he hopes to replicate in New York. It’s something he hopes to carry onto the city streets Sunday as well.
As the only one of the brothers who has run the New York City Marathon previously, Paul noted the high energy level of the race. “New York has the best spectators that I’ve seen so far at a race,” he said. “I’m excited for Stephen and Matt to experience it.”
And once it is all over, how do you possibly cap off that 151.2-mile experience? “With a slice of New York pizza,” said Paul.
