“Nicky Pergar approached me last January, and she asked me if wanted to run a marathon for the ASA,” said Wood, junior Theater and Performance major. “I wasn’t doing any shows at a time, and it was for a good cause so I said sure.”

Wood, Pergar, Garrity and Kirsch were involved in the ASA’s program "Train to End Stroke." ASA’s mission is to make more people aware of problems concerning stroke, and to find ways of curing the disease.

Each runner was expected to raise $4900. This package deal included the race fee, plane tickets and hotel accommodations, as well as a donation toward stroke research funding.

“We had envelope stuffing parties, and met with stroke survivors (in order to fundraise),” said Wood. “I sent out a lot of letters back home in Orlando. The letters explained our cause, what we were running for, and how they could donate money,” she said. “Nicky, Sean, Andrew and I even stood outside Wal-Mart and had a bucket for donations.”

Wood finished 7th in her age group of 20-24. She was 176 overall out of the 405 who ran the whole 26.2 miles. Her time was 5 hours, 31 minutes and 24 sec. “It was an awesome experience,” said Wood. “After I crossed the finish line, it was very emotional knowing that I ran in memory of stroke victims and played a part in the stroke survivors’ recovery.”