26.2 in 3:19:22 = $35K

When Doug Kern ’76 rolled across the finish line in November’s New York City Marathon, his time was 3:19:22, and a charity dear to his heart was the winner.

Kern is one of 69 entrants from around the world who took on the course by hand cycle. He was left paralyzed 38 years ago after making a tackle in a high school football game. At the time doctors told his parents he would never walk again, but the highly competitive young man
had other ideas.

“Through much faith, help from countless friends, and a grueling therapy schedule, I walked out of the hospital eight months following the accident,” he says. A Lehigh Valley native who lives in Schnecksville, Pa., he majored in civil engineering at Lafayette, went on to start his own engineering firm, and now runs the family property-management business.

“I now walk with crutches but still try to maintain as active a lifestyle as possible,” says the father of two pre-teens and youth sports coach. Through the marathon, he raised more than $35,000 for the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley. Kids with special needs and developmental disabilities play baseball in the league’s customized $1.5 million facility, a genuine field of dreams.

“I feel a strong connection to these kids and want their lives to be as normal as possible,” he says. “I also want them to see that there is so much they can do with their lives despite physical limitations.”