Meet Brian Anderson, Kaya's Boston Marathon Runner

March 30, 2012 -- Have you ever run 26.2 miles?

If not, you are not alone. Brian Anderson, however, is part of the minority who has tackled what is only another thing on most peoples' bucket lists: the marathon. Not only that, but this April, he plans to tackle it a second time by running the Boston Marathon on behalf of Kaya.

Brian is currently a senior manager at an EMR company, and he lives in the Boston area with his wife Helena and 2-year-old daughter Emily. He grew up in California, and he began his love for athletics as a high school basketball player.

What motivated him to run a marathon, though, was not his love for basketball. Shortly before his third year of medical school, Brian's best friend from college--Jeff--passed away in a rock climbing accident."This was one of the darkest times in my life," he says. "I ran the Boston marathon "bandit" in 2003, so I ran with my shirt off and my name written on my chest. It was a few months after my friend died, and I was running for him. It was an emotional time, running that first race. I felt like I was running for something more than just me."

Shortly after the death of his friend, Brian started his third year of medical school and began doing rotations. His first attending physician for the year happened to be Kaya's founder, Dr. Chi Huang. "At that time, I was a mess. I still remember walking down the corridor and Chi coming from the opposite way and thinking 'who is this short, bald guy?' He ended up being my attending and he really made an impact on me. His ability to empathize with what you're going through and to reach out and help you was very supportive in that time of my life."

The two men shared their stories--Brian sharing about the death of his friend, and Chi sharing about his vision in starting Kaya, which was still called the Bolivian Street Children Project at the time. Having developed a passion for at-risk youth during a gap year between college and medical school spent directing a program for at-risk talented youth across the nation, Brian's interest was piqued.

Years later, when Chi started attending his church, Brian decided to get involved with Kaya in a deeper way. With his running experience in mind, together with Chi and Sarah he came up with the idea of running the Boston Marathon to raise money for Kaya.

Now, Brian is almost at the end of his training, and he is excited to support Kaya through his participation in the marathon. "I know that what I'm raising is a small amount, but it's an amount that I think will be able to make a difference in a couple kids' lives and hopefully draw some more attention to worthwhile work."

If you want to support Kaya Children International through Brian's marathon fundraising efforts, please visit http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/runbrianrun/bostonmarathon2012.