Joe Hale

Joe Hale running in a marathon (www.wcpo.com/news/2005/ local/01/26/marathons.html)

Imagine running 26 miles seven times in seven months on seven different continents, just for a charity organization. Now that, in my opinion, is a hero who gives part of his or her life to help others. The hero who fits my description is a hero to others near and far, Joe Hale.

Joe Hale's marathons (http://www.newspagedesigner.com /portfolios/portfolio1.php?UserID=4255)

Joe Hale was born in 1950. He is 55 years old and a Cinergy executive from Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2004, he pledged to run seven races on seven continents in seven months to raise $100,000 for the non-profit organization "March of Dimes," whose general mission is to improve the health of babies worldwide. On July 3, 2005, Joe Hale fulfilled his pledge by not only running his seventh marathon in Australia, but also by having raised $158,000 during the seven months. From January to July 2005, Joe Hale participated in the following seven marathons worldwide:

• The Miami Marathon, Florida in the USA on January 30, 2005.

• The Antarctica Marathon in Antarctica on February 26, 2005.

• The Ushuaia Marathon, Argentina in South America on March 6, 2005.

• The Rotterdam Marathon, Netherlands in Europe on April 10, 2005.

• The Great Wall of China Marathon, village of Tianjin in Asia on May 21, 2005.

• The Mount Kilimanjaro Marathon, Tanzania in Africa on June 26, 2005.

• The Gold Coast Marathon, Brisbane in Australia on July 3, 2005.

March Of Dimes Logo (http://researchgrants.marchofdimes.com /MODGrants/PRI/LOI_Unavailable.asp)

Joe Hale has supported the "March of Dimes" since an early age. Joe Hale’s mother was paralyzed from the neck down at his birth by having been infected by polio. The "March of Dimes" supported his family financially and also enabled Joe Hale’s mother to have rehabilitation, which helped her to regain her upper-body movement. Even as a young boy, Joe Hale would go from door to door and ask for money for the "March of Dimes."

Joe Hale (http://www.cinergy.com/News/ default_corporate_news.asp?news_id=41)

According to “A Hero’s Trail” by T.A. Barron, Joe Hale is a Hero to Others Near and Far. His life-long devotion to the "March of Dimes" comes from the desire to help others as his family had been helped at the beginning of his life. To support others through a charity organization, Joe Hale took on the personal hardship of traveling to seven continents in a relatively short time span, of enduring extreme weather conditions and different climates, of bodily harm and testing his physical capabilities to the limit.

Thanks for reading what I have to say about Joe Hale and his achievements. I hope you will agree with me that after giving part of his life to help others by running 26 miles seven times in seven months on seven different continents, just for a charity organization, that Joe Hale is a hero to others near and far. I also hope that you take Joe Hale as proof that anybody can become a hero.