01/08/08 — The small dog always was there, begging for food and attention, anytime Michael B. McClelland of Meadville was at the hotel cafe during a 2004 visit to Athens, Greece, shortly before the 2004 Olympic Games there.
“She was friendly, but she had flea and tick problems,” McClelland, 23, recalls. “I followed her one time and noticed she had a litter of puppies (she was caring for) behind the hotel. She was malnourished and the pups were underfed, too. That got me thinking about what may happen to her.”
The unknown fate of that stray Athens street dog, her pups and others like her has stuck in McClelland’s memory. Many of the animals like that unnamed dog were domesticated, friendly and would come right up to a person, he said.
McClelland, a graduate student at the London School of Economics, plans to run the Flora London Marathon on April 13 as a charity runner to benefit The Blue Cross — England’s lead animal welfare charity.
With the Olympic Games to be in London in 2012, McClelland said it’s vital to support animal-related charities now because of what happened to street animals in Greece before the 2004 Olympics there.
McClelland, who was in Greece as part of a class trip with Allegheny College, said he was appalled to learn from one of his professors that unwanted animals wandering the streets were being euthanized.
“Many of which were dogs and cats that should have been given proper homes were being put to sleep in order to ‘clean up the streets’ before the Olympics. It didn’t hit me until we returned home and watching the Olympics on TV seeing the street scenes (of Athens) without animals.”
McClelland hopes to raise 2,000 pounds or about $4,200 to benefit The Blue Cross.
The Blue Cross provides veterinary care for owners who can’t afford it and finds homes for unwanted and abandoned animals.
“The Blue Cross will be able to use charity money to provide more and better homes so that this doesn’t happen in London,” he said.
McClelland is a 2003 graduate of Meadville Area Senior High School and a 2007 Allegheny College graduate with major in creative writing and minor in music. He’s in England studying for a master’s degree in communication regulation.
He said about 70 percent of those who participate in the Flora London Marathon run for a charity.
“Running a marathon for myself is great, but I though I should run for a charity,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of pets myself,” said McClelland whose family has two black Labrador retrievers. “It’s wonderful for kids to have a pet.”
Though he’s never run a full marathon before — 26.2 miles — McClelland’s been training for the past several months and has set a goal of completing the London Marathon in less than three hours, 30 minutes.
He has previously run a half-marathon, or 13.1 miles.
“I didn’t have any problems except my shoulders got sore. I needed to do more weight lifting,” he said with a laugh.
McClelland didn’t run competitively in high school in Meadville; instead, he was a swimmer and tennis player.
He began running for distance in 2005 when he spent a college semester abroad in Australia and started running with friends there.
YOU CAN HELP
Michael B. McClelland wants to raise $4,200 to benefit The Blue Cross, England’s pet charity, by running in the Flora London Marathon this April.
The donation site for Michael B. McClelland to benefit The Blue Cross is: www.justgiving.com/michaelbmcclelland.
DID YOU KNOW?
The Olympics are held every four years.
The 2008 Summer Olympics will be in Beijing, China, Aug. 8 to 24. The 2012 Summer Olympics will be in London, England, July 27 to Aug. 12.
The 2010 Winter Olympics will be in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Feb. 12 to 28. The 2014 Winter Olympics will be in Sochi, Russia, Feb. 7 to 23.
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Former local man enters marathon to save strays
- Local News
-
-
Conneaut Lake Park roars into 120th season
Conneaut Lake Park’s 120th season is officially under way with its in-keeping-with-tradition, four-day Memorial Day weekend opening, and the “crowds are coming in,” Jack Moyers said Saturday.
-
Area communities ready to celebrate Memorial Day
Editor’s note: The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are Monday, except those in Edinboro and Shermansville, which are planned for Sunday. -
Remembering Civil War Bucktails
A glimpse into daily life of the Civil War era is easy to see in Crawford County.
-
Area Memorial Day events
The following Memorial Day events have been reported for publication in The Tribune. All events are on Monday, except the one at Edinboro that is planned for Sunday.
-
Civil War soldiers highlight Meadville Memorial Day events
A courageous Meadville man — wounded three times but remaining on a Civil War battlefield until he was too weak to continue — is being remembered this Memorial Day as the Meadville Area Memorial Day Committee continues its mission of observing the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States.
-
Police: Locals admit to killing Ohio woman
Two Cochranton women were arrested and jailed on homicide charges early Thursday after allegedly admitting they killed an Ohio woman and buried her body in a shallow grave near their residence recently.
-
Reader 'Faces' are coming in
Mom's car dash, Meadville, PA
Lucy Kedzierski, 12, looks at the face every morning waiting for school bus!
She took this with a cell phone. -
North Street Project sure to be 'very disruptive'
With the preliminary traffic control plan for Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s North Street Project complete, Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest summed up the anticipated impact of the project, which is expected to span the entire 2013 construction season. “This is going to be very, very disruptive,” he said Wednesday.
-
Boat business booming in warm weather
It’s been a booming business in boats this spring, according to some area boat dealers.
-
City leaders not concerned after financial downgrade
During the past five years, Moody’s Investors Service has assigned three different ratings — all within the range of “upper medium grade” to the City of Meadville’s bonds. In 2007, the city was given a rating of A3, the lowest of the trio. In 2010, the city’s bond rating was raised to A1, the highest ranking in the “upper medium” category. Monday, Moody’s gave the city’s $10,000,000 General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2012, which went on the market Monday, the middle rating of A2.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
