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GreekReporter.comAustraliaGreek-Australian Sisters Organize Penny Marathon 2013

Greek-Australian Sisters Organize Penny Marathon 2013

penny marathonThe Penny Marathon is an initiative aiming at raising awareness of the plight of stray, neglected and abused companion animals, at sensitizing people on stray animals’ adoption and neutering programs.

The initiative began in July 2012 by a small group of passionate animal lovers, who run and cycled from Marathon to the center of Athens in Greece in order to awaken people on stray animals’ living conditions in and out of Greece. The group decided to establish it as an annual event with teams running marathons in both Greece and Australia.

Chief organizers of Penny Marathon are the Greek-Australian sisters Ellie and Pep Prodromou. “The idea to run the original route of the Athens Classic Marathon during the summer was a way to collect a modest amount of donations from relatives, friends and others in order to offer it to stray animal shelters,” the sisters noted.

Athletes, runners and cyclists, as well as volunteers in Greece expressed their solidarity and participated in this effort along with the sisters.

The 2012 Penny Marathon was completed in four and a half hours and ended at the Kallimarmaro Stadium.

In both Greece and Australia there are problems concerning stray animals. “In Greece, there are stray cats and dogs on every street corner, trying to avoid the cold or find some food,” as Ellie said. She added that, “Besides indifference and neglect, there’s also abuse and brutality.”

In Australia, even with the neutering and adoption programs, hundreds of thousands of pets are killed ever year because they are unwanted and cannot find homes.

Penny Marathon was named after a stray dog that lived on the streets of Athens, but died young. The Penny Marathon 2013 will be held on July 14 in Athens, Greece and Sydney, Australia.

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