Running to a bouncing beat

By run-dribbling the race this weekend, McCarty wants to raise awareness and funds — so far he's about $3,200 toward a $5,000 goal — for Second Mile Haiti, a faith-based nonprofit organization that helps mothers in the northern city of Cap Haitien become stronger parents and financially self-sufficient women. Haiti is where he watched a woman interrupt orphanage workers and volunteers during their afternoon meal, screaming as she carried her dead 2-year-old draped in her arms just days after he'd been nursed back to life. The school decided to keep the funds he raised in an account for him for future mission work, and it would come into play later when he'd make his first trip to Haiti while in college. Dan Occhiogrosso, a friend who also played basketball at Baptist Bible, dribbled the New York City Marathon in 2007 to raise awareness and funds for the millions of children orphaned by AIDS worldwide. [...] he trained himself to distance run, and he worked on his crossover dribble, something that came naturally since he's also the assistant varsity boys' basketball coach at Mekeel. When he asked the organizers of the Empire State Marathon if he could dribble the race — expected to draw about 2,500 runners between the half-marathon, relay and 26.2-mile event — it proved easier than he thought.