News and Knowledge

Marie Kissil grew up with a sister, Meagan, 28, who was diagnosed with autism. “She is incredible and has inspired me to become a special education teacher,” says Kissil, who recently ran a half marathon for OAR in honor of her sister and others with autism.

On September 4, Marie Kissil, 30, ran her first half marathon for OAR, at the Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon, raising more than $2,100 in the process. A special education teacher who lives in Chesapeake, Va., Kissil works for a regional program called Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs (SECEP) and teaches children with autism in an elementary school in Virginia Beach. She tells us why she was determined to run and raise money:

“When I was researching races, I knew that I wanted to find one that would allow me to raise money for autism. It has become so widespread and affects so many kids and their families. I did not even consider another cause. I knew I wanted to run for autism. OAR made the fundraising process very simple and I love how it uses the money it raises.”

Inspiring. Fearless. Confident. Wonderful.
“I grew up with a sister, Meagan, 28, who was diagnosed with autism. She is incredible and has inspired me to become a special education teacher. She lives with my parents in Arizona where they retired. I think what is most inspiring about her is how positive she always is. She grew up with even simple things being a lot harder for her. She was teased and called every name in the book. Despite all that, she always has a smile on her face and is the sweetest person to everyone she knows.

“What I respect about her the most is how fearless she is. She does not care what people think of her. She is proud of who she is and is confident in everything she does. I think that is incredible when you think about all she has had to go through growing up.

“As people get older, they often lose that purity and honesty and sense of wonder that children have. That is not true for my sister and every time I spend time with her, she grounds me. She reminds me what is important in life. I start to see the world with a sense of wonder again. I have learned more from her than anyone else in my life. She has taught me to try to be the best person I can every day and to appreciate everything I have been given in life.

“My parents sacrificed a lot to give her the best education and support at home. They did an amazing job at keeping my life as normal as possible. I can’t ever thank them enough for that. I know it was not always easy for them. When I was too young to really understand what was going on with my sister, I admit that I would get frustrated with her and the situation. Why did she have to be different? Why did people always have to look at us when we were in public? It wasn’t until I grew up more that I realized how special she was. We got much closer as siblings as I got into middle school and high school. My friends all knew her and I got to know all my sister’s friends.”

Taking on a Challenge. And a Purpose.
“I have always respected people who run longer distances. It has always been something I wanted to try. I actually want to work my way up to running a full marathon. When I signed up for the half marathon, I decided that I would make it even more special by running with a purpose.

“The only running I did before this half marathon was for soccer when I still played and the occasional run for a workout. I had never run over five miles. I found a simple training plan online and went for it. Now, I really enjoy running and especially like the long run days on the training schedule. I can see why people get addicted to it.

“I started training almost exactly two months before the race. All the people that donated kept me motivated. I kept thinking to myself that I better keep training and do okay on this half marathon because all these great people gave money to my cause. There was no way I could tell them I didn’t finish. I trained on my own, based on the training program I found. I just slowly built my miles up over the two months. I have a couple friends that have gotten into running recently as well. We have signed up for two future races together already.

“The half marathon was fantastic. A few friends came out to watch and I met my goal time. I talked to a few people ahead of time about what races are like. Everyone said they are so motivating because of the people cheering and the other runners. They could not have been more right. I can’t wait to do more running events.”

The Family Gets in on the Fun(draising).
“I started off by just e-mailing friends and family. I also made several posts on Facebook. My mom was really the one that pushed along the fundraising. She forwarded my e-mail to more family members and all of our family friends. She told everyone that came over to their house. Once she did all that, the fundraising really took off. She could not have supported me more. It really ended up being a family effort. Even my sister donated! People have been so great about supporting this cause that means so much to my family.”