Support East Timorese Marathoners in NYC

UPDATE:  The East Timorese runners were unable to make it to New York in time for the marathon, which ended up being cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy. ETAN will not be organizing cheering this year, but we look forward to doing so next year. 


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Sunday, November 4, 2011Support East Timorese Marathoners

Once again, two of Timor-Leste's top long-distance runners are participating in the New York City Marathon on November 4.

And once again, ETAN will be cheering them on!

Meet at the southwest corner of 4th Ave. and Bergen St. in Brooklyn at 10 am. to wave Timor flags, carry supportive signs (make and bring one if you can), and otherwise show our support for the runners. Don't forget to change your clocks the night before to end daylight savings.

Later in the day, we plan to move to a spot near the finish line along Central Park South.

For more information or contact etan@etan.org, 917-690-4391

More details and updates on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/488797407806709/ or 

ETAN's website http://www.etan.org/news/calendar.htm#New_York,_NY_ 

Nearest subway is Atlantic Avenue: D, N, R, 2, 3, 4, 5, B, Q

About the Timorese runners:

Zeferino Guterres Magalhaes is from Viqueque, but currently lives in Liquica with his wife. He is 34 years old, and ran a time of 2h36m at the SEA games last year. Zeferino has consistently been in the top three of the Dili Marathon, but was unable to finish this year. However Calisto (who ran in last year's NYC marathon) and won the Dili event has now retired as an athlete and become a trainer. As he had already been to New York, he is happy for Zeferino to represent Timor-Leste.

Marquita dos Santos is from Lospalos and studying at Nino Konis Santana Senior High School in Lospalos. She is 18 years old and has been running since 2009. She participated 3 Km in Arafura games winning third place. She placed fourth in SEA games in 5 km. She speaks Indonesia and understand a little English and Portuguese. She lives with her parents in Lospalos.

see here for information about Timorese runners in last year's marathon

Cheer Timorese runners, Jeer Kissinger in NYC

Sunday, November 6, 2011 - Support East Timorese marathoners. We'll meet at the corner of 4th Ave. and Bergen St. in Brooklyn at 10 am. to cheer them on. Details below. Monday, November 7, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - Protest the honoring of war criminal Henry Kissinger by the New York Historical Society, The Waldorf-Astoria, 301 Park Ave. between 49 & 50 St., New York, NYETAN needs your financial support: Please donate! http://www.etan.org/etan/donate.htm  ------------------------ Sunday, November 6, 2011 Support East Timorese Marathoners Two of Timor-Leste's top long-distance runners - Calisto da Costa and Lola Gonsalves Gama - are participating in the New York City Marathon this weekend. Join ETAN in cheering them on! Meet at thecorner of 4th Ave. and Bergen St. in Brooklyn at 10 am. to wave Timor flags, carry supportive signs (make and bring one if you can), and otherwise show our support for the runners. Don't forget to change your clocks the night before to end daylight savings. Later in the day, we plan to move to a spot near the finish line along Central Park South.  For more information or contact etan@etan.org, 917-690-4391. More details on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=291567927520670  or ETAN's http://www.etan.org/news/calendar.htm#New_York,_NY_Nearest subway is Atlantic Avenue: D, N, R, 2, 3, 4, 5, B, Q ----------------------------------------- Protest the honoring of war criminal Henry Kissinger by the New-York Historical Society of Henry Kissinger  November 7, 20115:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. The Waldorf-Astoria 301 Park Ave. between 49 & 50 St., New York, NYContact ETAN if you can help or for more info. Spread the word - download flyer here - http://etan.org/etanpdf/2011-13/Kissinger.pdfInfo on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/q9EdkC and on ETAN's website: www.etan.org etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan Please donate! Support ETAN: http://www.etan.org/etan/2011micaapp.htmFollow ETAN on Twitter: http://twitter.com/etan009

Support East Timor in New York Marathon

UPDATE: Both East Timorese runners finished the New York Marathon yesterday. Augusto finished 249th overall and 214 of the men. His time was 2:47:10. Agueda was 17531 overall, 3970 among the women with a time of 4:08:15. Both ran slower than their normal times, perhaps affected by the chill New York air. 42,000 participated.

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Two East Timorese are running in the New York Marathon on Sunday, November 7, and ETAN plans to cheer them on.

We plan to meet up at the corner of 4th Ave. and Bergen St. in Brooklyn at 10 am to wave Timor flags and otherwise show our support. By gathering at 10 (don't forget to change your clocks the night before to end daylight savings) we will have time to find it other and get settled before the Timorese runners pass by. (Nearest subway is Pacific St/ Atlantic Ave.) 

Call 917-690-4391 if you can't find us.

Two of Timor's top runners are participating: Augusto Ramos (race number 279) and Olympic veteran Agueda Amaral (213). Augusto came in second in Dili's first Marthon for Peace in June. Agueda represented not-yet-independent East Timor (Timor-Leste) in the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney. CNN described her arrival in the stadium for the final laps as "the most moving moment" of the race. She also ran in the 2004 Athens games.

More information about Timor's participation in the NY Marathon can be found here.

UPDATE: Follow the Timorese runners by SMS or on the web. sign up here http://bit.ly/31rOoJ [Agueda Amaral (bib 213) and Augusto is listed as Augusto Soares (279)]

ETAN helps East Timorese runners enter New York Marathon

Office of the President
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

20 October 2010

Timorese runners to take on the New York City Marathon

Top male and female distance runners from Timor-Leste are getting set to take on the New York City Marathon on 7 November. They will be accompanying the Australian Indigenous Marathon Project fronted by Australian marathon legend Robert de Castella.

Marathon running in Timor-Leste has kicked into gear this year with the inaugural International Dili "City of Peace" Marathon taking place on 20 June 2010. 24 year old Augusto Ramos Soares inspired the nation, coming in just one minute behind the Kenyan star and winner, Philemon Rotich, to take second place in a solid time of 2 hours and 36 minutes. From an incredibly poor farming family in rural Timor, Augusto and Olympic veteran Agueda Amaral will be joining their neighbours from regional Australia in under three weeks to compete in the NY Marathon. 

The International Dili Peace Marathon is a dynamic new addition to the President's 'Dili - City of Peace' initiative, and was run on 20 June 2010. On 6 April 2010, Sydney Olympic Marathon Course Director, Stephen Jackson, confirmed the course for the Marathon to be up to international standards. The Dili Marathon attracted 1270 runners from across 28 nations, of which 115 ran the full 42 kms, while the others ran either 21, 10 or 5 km races. The President announced: "It is my honour to welcome, on behalf of the State, all of our participants and supporters of the first Dili Marathon. This is an inaugural event, which will help place Timor-Leste in its rightful place on the world stage."

The President of Timor-Leste and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, H.E. Jose Ramos-Horta, initiated a process of cooperation with the Australian Indigenous Marathon Project, which has led to the two Timorese runners and coaches joining de Castella and his team for a training programme in Australia and a week of intensive preparation for the marathon.

But it nearly didn't happen. The registration process for the New York City Marathon had already passed its deadline before the starting gun had even been fired here in Dili. The final means of registration was through the Team for Kids charity in New York, requiring a certain amount of money to be raised for guaranteed entry into the race. Team for Kids (http://www.runwithtfk.org/) raises money to allow disadvantaged children to get involved in regular health and fitness programmes where they otherwise wouldn't have access to such facilities.

With time running short and money needing to be raised, The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) came into play. ETAN was pivotal in mobilising contacts both in Australia and New York to make the project a reality.

This momentous work has been greatly helped by the generosity and quick mobilisation of countless individuals. Two of the major hurdles presented along the way were getting the right training and race gear, as well as getting travel to New York from Dili.

After their excellent support during the Dili Marathon on 18 June this year, Nike was once again keen to get involved and support Timorese runners. With the AIS coaching session organised for Sydney and New York's Central Park, the Timorese athletes are sure to excel now that they are equipped with the top gear.

Getting the athletes and delegation over to New York was no small task. From the dusty Dili streets to the city that never sleeps on the opposite side of the world was made considerably easier by the generosity of V Australia and our long-term regional airline partner in Airnorth.

The momentum gained from pushing for the sports/peace "heroes" development in Timor-Leste is now going to an all new level with this first and all important step towards the London 2012 Olympics.

Follow the progress of Augusto and Agueda at www.dilimarathon.com

Contact Michael Stone on +670 7231964
 Email contact: media@tourdetimor.com