Kidney donor athletes Matt Cavanaugh and Hilary Baude have successfully completed two marathons of their 1K12M (One Kidney, 12 Marathons) challenge, and are gearing up for the next marathon on the list, the Salt Lake City Marathon, on April 22, 2023.
Matt and Hilary were both among the top finishers in the Los Angeles Marathon, which was held on March 19. Out of 22,000 runners, Matt placed 53rd overall with a time of 2:53:14 and Hilary was 169th overall at 3:50:04.
“At this point in the challenge, Hilary and I are just holding on,” said Cavanaugh, “and Salt Lake City is the start of a really tough stretch of four races over six weeks. If we can get through this one—with the elevation and the dry, dry climate—we’ll be in good shape for the next few to come.”
1K12M is a full-year challenge sponsored by the National Kidney Registry, in which Matt and Hilary will participate in 12 marathons throughout 2023 all across the United States. 1K12M is Matt Cavanaugh’s latest attempt to shatter the misperception that kidney donation imposes physical limits on donors. In 2022, Matt became the first living kidney donor to finish the full 4 Deserts race series, which covered 1,000 kilometers across Namibia, Georgia, Chile, and Antarctica. He won the Last Desert/Antarctica leg and finished as the fastest American to ever race the 4 Deserts (with one kidney or two).
After the Salt Lake City race, Matt and Hilary plan to participate in events in Cincinnati, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Washington, D.C., New York City, Philadelphia and Honolulu. For more information on the 1K12M challenge, visit the Donor Games website.
