“My name is Neil Morrison and the Chicago Marathon will be my second marathon overall! I started running around 10 years ago trying to keep up with my wife. I was struggling even doing a 5k, but I kept working hard and once I started feeling better with my runs, I worked up to a 10k and then a half marathon. At that time, I still was not thinking I would ever do a marathon but my wife was running in Tokyo for a charity, so I applied for the lottery and as luck would have it, I got picked in the lottery for Tokyo. Tokyo was my first marathon and I loved it. The atmosphere of all my fellow runners, the crowd and the accomplishment of finishing it was amazing. It was also eye opening to see the impact that the charity runners have in raising funds to support charities that are close to their heart. I was really excited when I was picked to run for Special Children’s Charities as my cousin Jeff is developmentally delayed due to an extreme fever he had when he was a baby and never develop emotionally or intellectually past the level of the fifth grade. I am excited to be able to raise money for a cause that is close to my heart and to have more of an impact helping both children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities be able to participate in athletic, enrichment, and educational programs so they can live their best lives too. Being able to run and represent Special Children’s Charities is an honor and I hope to be able to not only raise the money requested, but even more to help such an impactful charity.”