Bound For The ‘Friendly Marathon’

By Steve Bigham

Three Newtown residents will travel to Ireland in October to compete in the 21st annual Dublin Marathon. They plan to raise money for the Connecticut Center for Child Development in Milford, Connecticut.

Neighbors Roger Letso, Kelly Conte, and Lauren Elliott will be running the historic streets of Dublin October 30 in the hopes that they can each raise $4,000 for the “Champions for Children” cause. They also hope to increase awareness for a disability known as autism, which is now estimated to affect as many as one out of every 500 births. But they need help.

In Dublin, the three Newtown residents will be joined by a number of runners from other towns who will also be running on behalf of the center. The three runners are seeking pledges/sponsors to help them in their cause. Kelly Conte can be reached at 364-0109, Lauren Elliott at 426-1747, and Roger Letso at 426-0449.

Autism is a severe developmental disability usually identified during the first three years of a child’s life. While each child is unique, children with this disability often have substantial impairments in the areas of communications, social relatedness, and play skills, and may engage in stereotypical or maladaptive behaviors.

The Connecticut Center for Child Development is a non-profit school dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with autism and related disorders. Newtown resident Suzanne Letso is founder and executive director of the center and is counting on the three runners to aid in the cause. One of them happens to be her husband, who is a member of the center’s board of directors.

The Letsos’ 10-year-old son, Tyler, is autistic, and Mr and Mrs Letso sought out many techniques to educate him. Finally, they discovered the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), an organized, systematic approach to understanding and solving behavior problems and teaching new skills. Its principals have been scientifically evaluated and demonstrated to be effective with typical and atypical learners, including students with autism.

The success of ABA on Tyler inspired the Letsos to help other autistic children and to establish the center in 1995.

Mr Letso, Ms Conte, and Ms Elliott train together 2-3 times a week in the morning and say they are ready to run the 26.2 mile course. More than 10,000 runners are expected to compete. The race has been named the “friendly marathon” because so many spectators line the streets in support of the runners.