Marva Joseph and Marie Young: The "Canarsie Duo" Will Take On 26.2

Marva Joseph and Marie Young met at a gym in their Brooklyn neighborhood in 2015. Shortly after, they decided to become volunteer Run Captains at the newly launched Canarsie Park Open Run.

Neither Marva nor Marie considered herself a runner at the time, but they quickly fell in love with the Open Run community and with the physical, mental, emotional, and health benefits of running. NYRR Open Run offers free, weekly community-led fun runs and walks in neighborhood parks across the five boroughs.

“Open Run introduced us to running,” said Marie, 53, pictured above on the left. “The program brings like-minded participants together to participate in running or walking for a healthier lifestyle.”

“Through [Open Run] we have become consistent runners," added Marva, 58. "It created a lifestyle change for us, and we connect with the community.”

Marva and Marie ran a few NYRR races, and then volunteered together at the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon. They were so inspired by the display of humanity, with people from all walks of life coming together to run 26.2 miles, that they ran the marathon together in 2018. They both ran again in 2019, and Marie ran the Virtual TCS New York City Marathon in 2020 and the in-person 50th anniversary race last year.

Marva, a human resources administrator, and Marie, a daycare owner, log many of their training miles together. Marva has completed nearly 60 NYRR races; Marie has run more than 70. They travel together to races and support one another both on and off the course.

“Running together keeps us consistent and motivated,” said Marva. “Throughout our runs, we talk about our daily life, which has developed and strengthened our friendship to this day.”

Marie ran the New Balance Bronx 10 Mile on September 18; she and Marva will both run the Berlin Marathon on September 25, bringing them closer to their quest to become Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star finishers.

The Canarsie Park Open Run community calls them the "Canarsie Duo” and they’ve inspired other Open Runners to run the TCS New York City Marathon and other races.

“We love the various routes and sceneries,” said Marie. “Running these races is very important in so many ways.”

Marva and Marie are part of #TeamInspire at the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon, a diverse group of runners whose stories capture the power of running to change lives.