A Seaford man ran what amounts to five marathons from Montauk to Brooklyn in just 24 hours, all for a cause that is close to his heart.

Ryan Clifford, 23, loves to run. So he decided to take it to the extreme by running 131 miles.

"I thought, why not Montauk Point, one of the most historic points on Long Island, and of course the Brooklyn Bridge," says Clifford. "Running from those two locations would be so cool."

Clifford beat his goal and made the journey in under 22 hours. But it wasn't just for the personal challenge.

Clifford did the run to raise money for sick and underprivileged children through the John Theissen Children's Foundation, based in Wantagh.

 

Back at the "wish room" at the foundation, many of the toys go to children in local hospitals. Theissen say it is usually more packed with toys, but due to the coronavirus donations are way down.

"It's hard. The two major fundraisers that we have in May and June, we had to cancel," says Theissen. "Our family fun center which we are in now, which we give kids free parties. And the other is our back to school program."

Clifford's goal was to raise $5,000 -- but so far he's shattered that with $13,000. He says this run was not his last.

"The Appalachian Trail, running through the mountains which I really like running," he says. "I definitely think I'll be seeing myself doing that in the near future, probably next year at the earliest I'd say."