Tony and Marilyn Amburgy

It all started in 2006 when Tony noticed that our friend and neighbor had lost weight and was intrigued to hear how he had started running marathons.  This stirred Tony’s interest and passion, and he began training in 2006, as well as running his first ½ marathon race in Nashville.  Little did we know how much Nashville was going to be a part of our lives!

In the fall of 2006 our church and children’s Christian School hosted an outdoor concert for Steven Curtis Chapman.  His music has been a passion for Tony and I for many years, and we were blessed to be with Steven and his road manager, David Trask, after the concert.  I watched Tony and David enjoy talking to each other and he invited us to the upcoming ministry event for Shaohannah’s Hope, Steven and Mary Beth’s foundation that raises money and awareness for Christian adoption and orphan needs.

We went to Nashville in October, 2006 for the Annual Shaohannah’s Hope Ministry Event and took a backseat to view what God was doing there. We heard stories that took our breath away and brought tears to our eyes as we became aware of the incredible depth of need that overwhelms the world’s 143,000,000 orphans every day.  The program inspired us, as well as the couples we got to meet there.  As we were enjoying a very special couple from Orlando, Tony shared how he had started running the past year.   This new friend responded by saying that a lot of runners run to raise financial support and give it away to charities. Tony began to consider running for a purpose to help Shaohannah’s Hope and Orphan causes, and the development of Running Hope started shortly after. 

In June 2007, our family (Tony and I, and our 3 children: Ryan, 19; Joel, 16; and Jenna, 14) went to Beijing and Louyang, China for 10 days.  We were inspired to see orphans up close and personal, as well as meet some incredible people who have devoted their lives to helping them, like Robin Hill and Dr. Joyce Hill at Hope Foster Care.  But most inspiring was little 8 year old Sarah, an orphan so delightful to us that our family decided our hearts could expand to include an older little girl to adopt, so we began the adoption process in August of 2007.  We’re still waiting for the delivery of that dream!

Also in June 2007, our family went to San Diego for Tony’s 3rd marathon.  As we were walking with our family at the expo, we visited a booth of a children’s charity that intrigued us.  It was there that we met Tim Borland who was promoting his incredible run of 63 marathons in 63 days to benefit and help this children charity.  It was evident after a few minutes with him that we were talking to man of faith with a heart for children. Tony began talking to Tim later that year, sharing with him about his heart for orphans and how Tim could make a difference that changes lives forever by helping runners get involved to help.  Tim and his family relocated from California to Duluth, GA, joined our Running Hope team at the beginning of 2008 and he continues to share and talk to others about how they can get involved.

In 2008, we were able to have our first booth for Running Hope at a Marathon Expo, and appropriately, we began in the city that started the whole vision of this ministry at Nashville’s Country Music Marathon.  We were joined by Shaohannah’s Hope there at the Expo, and it was a wonderful beginning of asking runners to join Team Hope and help Orphan causes.

As we join with the running community, we are inviting others to an opportunity to run for the incredible cause of helping Orphans around the world.  Many runners, partners and sponsors have already joined Team Hope to making a difference and so can you.  We invite you to join us —it’s the difference you can make to help change a life, one Step at a time, one Orphan at a time.