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Miriam Elsendyouney’s twin boys, Malek and Zain, were diagnosed with autism at age two. “It was a whole new world for us,” she said. She found OAR as she first started navigating the autism community, looking for resources for her boys and family.

A few years later, Miriam started running to do something for herself. With four kids ages six and under, including the twins, “I felt like a project manager for treatment. I needed something I could do for myself and a goal for myself.” Running was “thirty minutes to an hour a day that was time for me to do something just for me.” Miriam decided to run the 2018 Houston Half Marathon with OAR to raise awareness of how autism had touched her family’s life and share the challenges and joys of her boys. She found the race fulfilling with her dual goals of running and fundraising to raise awareness. Her family all came out to cheer for her on race day. “My boys were very young at the time, and they got to come watch me run. My oldest [age six at the time] asked, ‘How come you’re not first?’” after the race, she laughed.

Miriam always wanted to run a marathon after moving from Texas to Connecticut and having her last baby (baby boy #5), she decided to take on the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon. “I was so excited!” she said. “Running a marathon has been a dream of mine I’ve always had, but I had to put it on the back burner with special needs kids as there’s always other things at the forefront.” Her whole family pitched in. “My husband picked up the slack, and the whole family made it a priority,” she said. She scheduled long runs during school hours and, for six months, trained and fundraised for the race.

“It was good for my kids to see,” Miriam said. “Even though our life is challenging, navigating the world for Malek and Zain, we can do things that make us happy and raise awareness of the great things about our boys.” Her twins are now 12. “As they’ve gotten older, it’s gotten harder for community acceptance,” she said, making raising awareness more important for her and her family. And, as her other kids have gotten older, she wants to teach them to be proud of their brothers as they’re at an age where they could be embarrassed instead. “My oldest is a big advocate for kids in general and has grown up seeing me advocate for his brothers. My boys are able to speak up when they see things that aren’t okay and spaces that aren’t inclusive.”

“I want to celebrate the boys and talk about our achievements and challenges,” Miriam said. While autism representation in the media has increased, it doesn’t always reflect everyone’s diverse experiences with autism, including her family’s. It’s important to “show people this is life and that’s okay. Not everyone will look and act the same.”

“Running NYC was life-changing, and meeting all the other charity runners was amazing and a great experience and I’m so glad I got the opportunity,” she said. “It’s an achievement for my entire family.”