Members / Paul Viglietta, Lisa D'Angelo

Paul- I am a New York City Special Ed Teacher and First Time Marathoner. I became interested in running in Elementary School. I am dyslexic and was placed in a Special Education setting at a young age. My school offered Olympic Games and other relays as incentives. Running was one of the few things that I excelled in - it helped to give me confidence and achieve success in school. I became a member…
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Paul- I am a New York City Special Ed Teacher and First Time Marathoner. I became interested in running in Elementary School. I am dyslexic and was placed in a Special Education setting at a young age. My school offered Olympic Games and other relays as incentives. Running was one of the few things that I excelled in - it helped to give me confidence and achieve success in school. I became a member…
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Paul-
I am a New York City Special Ed Teacher and First Time Marathoner.
I became interested in running in Elementary School. I am dyslexic and was placed in a Special Education setting at a young age. My school offered Olympic Games and other relays as incentives. Running was one of the few things that I excelled in - it helped to give me confidence and achieve success in school. I became a member of the track team and was a Sprinter for many years. Running helped me to increase self esteem and get through the difficult experiences I had growing up. I have always been motivated and inspired by the participants in the NYC Marathon. It has been a dream of mine since I was young, to participate in the race myself one day.
This year, I decided to make the dream a reality. I wanted to do something as a tribute to my father who died when I was a teenager. I decided to join Team for Kids and make a donation in his name to help children. The goal is to provide resources to children throughout the world to start running and to stay active. I hope that they will experience the benefits of running, just as I did.
The combination of crossing the finish line and helping many children in the process is a lifetime accomplishment that I am very proud to achieve!

Lisa-
I also work for the NYC DOE and am a Guidance Counselor at IS162 in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I first experienced the excitement of the Marathon when I was young. My mother helped to organize the race, as her corporation was the Sponsor of the Marathon. We were able to sit at the finish line by Tavern on the Green and watch as thousands of runners completed the race. I never forgot the energy of the crowd and the emotions of the runners as they ran past us. I have been a part of the Marathon every year since then- whether it was watching it on TV while away at college, cheering on participants as they ran through Greenpoint or volunteering on race day with NY Cares. Each November as I watch the thousands of runners- I get filled with the excitement that I too could be participating in the race one day. I have entered the lottery four times, and finally got a number this year! I am so excited to be a part of this New York tradition. (now all I have to do is train!)

While I was given automatic entry through the lottery, it didn't seem as meaningful to run the race without a cause. Team for Kids was the obvious choice for me. I have not only heard about the charity through friends that have been members in the past, but I also have seen their work in action. My sister started a Road Runners track team at IS162, and Team for Kids provided every student on the team with a pair of new sneakers enabling each student to stay active, participate in races and events and achieve success. Being a member of Team for Kids enables me to continue my lifetime ambition of helping children.