Marine On Cross-Country Mission Gives Back To OKC’s Special Needs Athletes

<p>A Marine captain is running across the country&nbsp;to&nbsp;help&nbsp;local children with special needs along the way.</p>

Saturday, September 9th 2017, 10:58 pm

By: News 9


A Marine captain is running across the country to help local children with special needs along the way.

Capt. Maggie Seymour is now halfway through her 3,000-mile voyage. She admits it is hard work, but says it is nothing compared to the challenges others face.

“A lot of those people I know out there," Capt. Seymour says, "get up every day and struggle with something, and they just kind of keep putting one foot in front of the other and if they can do that, I can do this.”

Step by step, Seymour is making a major trek. Her last mission before becoming a reserve Marine is giving thanks to those who helped her during her career as an Air Intelligence Officer, by running from San Diego to Virginia Beach and donating to veterans, Gold Star families, and special needs athletes.

Her support system helps her along, with friends stopping by to join in for a few miles, another driving a van stocked with supplies, and many more donating to her cause. Seymour is usually alone with her music and her thoughts, though, until she stops in cities like Oklahoma City, where she received a warm welcome.

Here, her donations funded a specialized racing chair for a family through Ainsley's Angels, which helps kids with special needs “roll with the wind” in marathons and other races. The chairs the runners use to push the kids range in price from $1,000 to $5,000.

An Angel Runner herself, Seymour says, “When you’re pushing someone, you go faster. It’s more fun. You’re part of a team!”

Her message to others is to get outside your comfort zone and meet somebody new.

“It’s important to meet and be with people that maybe aren’t like you,” Seymour says. “Whether that’s in abilities or politics or in race or religion, it’s important to build communities with people that aren’t just like you.”

“It takes a special person to really grasp what we’re doing,” says local Ainsley’s Angel ambassador John Gloria. Of Seymour, he says, “It’s a pretty big impact. It’s pretty amazing the feat that she’s accomplished.”

Seymour is taking a break from running on Sunday but will hit the road again on Monday, making her way towards the Atlantic coast. To learn more about her journey, click here.

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