My name is Paul Weaver, and I’ve run 4 marathons in my life. Every marathon has been difficult, and I have ‘hit the wall’ around 30km, only 12km from the finish every time. While finishing any marathon is a huge accomplishment, after doing 4 of them, I think I am starting to get the hang of these. But I still have not run a race as well as I would like to. My personal best is a 3:49. I’m going to one day break through that wall!

This past fall I began thinking about a 5th marathon. In the spring of 2023, I want to attempt again and seek to hit 2 specific goals, one of which I believe is attainable and one that is truly a reach goal:

1. Run a sub-3:30 marathon

2. Qualify for Boston (a sub-3:10 marathon)

Tragedy Struck

In the middle of October 2022 – we were shocked to learn that a longtime friend of ours,

Heather Topuz had died. Heather had been one of Michelle’s closest friends, especially when they were both single here in Turkey. Michelle was a bridesmaid at Heather and Timur’s wedding. When I came to Istanbul to propose to Michelle, we stayed at Heather and Timur’s place. This is a picture of a friend, me, Heather, and Michelle back in 2001, shortly before Michelle and I started dating.

Although we had not seen much of them over the past few years, we all played important roles in each other’s lives in the past. We were shocked when we heard she had passed. Then on the 18th of October, at the funeral, our hearts were broken especially by the 14-year-old twins – Efe (Nathan) and Ada (Sue)

These kids are beautiful and shouldn’t have had to bury their mother. It was one of the hardest things I’ve personally seen in years. It was right there, at the funeral, I said to myself – “I have to find a way to help those twins.”
And that is where the idea of running a marathon fundraiser came to me. Efe (Nathan) and Ada (Sue) are in 9th grade at a private school in Istanbul, Turkey. I want to help them with their university costs. They are going to need a lot more than just financial help without their mother, but this is the best idea I could come up with for how to help them. Thanks to some running friends, Prague Marathon on May 7th, 2023 was proposed as a good, pretty flat marathon. This is going to be the marathon where I get a PB and hit my goals. After all, I have the twins I am running for!!

Funding goal: $25,000

Suggested donations:

1. $50 If I complete the marathon

2. $100 If I can run a sub-3:30 marathon

3. $150 If I can run a sub-3:10 marathon (a Boston Qualifying time)

** ** these are just suggestions. Any help will be great! ;)

If you would like to follow my running journey to Prague please follow on

Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/620884