Hi, I’m Greg Pesky. I am the Chair of the Lee Pesky Learning Center Board of Directors. I am proud to serve in this role and strategically guide LPLC as it strives to create pathways to learning for everyone.
I’m also Lee’s younger brother. My connection to LPLC runs deep – and has kept me running for 25 years now. In fact, the topic of running is a particularly important one for me in my relationship with Lee and LPLC.
Around this time twenty-three years ago, I ran the last of three consecutive New York City Marathons. I had not planned to run the NYC Marathon that year, but this was just one of many “unplanned” events that I faced in 1995.
That fall, I was set to attend my first year of business school, but I quickly changed course after learning in late August that my older brother Lee had been diagnosed with a highly aggressive malignant brain tumor. Our family was given a grim outlook – Lee may live for only a few more months, if not weeks.
Faced with this radically different new reality, I deferred business school and moved back to my childhood home to help my family care for Lee. Knowing that I needed a coping mechanism for the sadness and anger I was feeling as I saw my older brother fighting for his life, I decided to run my third NYC Marathon.
Just six days before the race, I lost my brother Lee.
On November 12, 1995 I crossed the finish line of the NYC Marathon in Central Park in beads of sweats, tears of sadness, and a pain much deeper than sore legs and tender feet.
Last year, I ran the NYC Marathon for the first time since that day. Lee once again inspired me to run, but under very different circumstances. I crossed the finish line as a member of LPLC’s Running for Learning Team. This dedicated group is comprised of ten runners who raise financial support and awareness of LPLC and its services while also training for and completing the 26.2-mile NYC Marathon course.
I am proud to report that I am once again a member of Running for Learning Team for the 2019 NYC Marathon. But I am even more proud of the fact that LPLC has built a legacy in my brother’s memory that has impacted over 100,000 students and 7,000 teachers through one-on-one intervention services, training for professionals, and by advancing research. This is why I run – because, like Lee, everyone learns differently and LPLC understands.
You can read more about me, my team, and support LPLC by visiting our team site here. We hope you will support us and cheer for us on the big day – Sunday, November 3.
