Running for a cause奔跑的意义

Ximena Pérez Gómez

帕拉坚持跑马拉松，并参加其他比赛，为坐在轮椅上的儿童筹集资金，这些资金被用来救助患West综合征的儿童。

Julieta Escobar Parra runs for acause. A resident of Puebla， a city inMexico， Parra runs marathons and otherraces to raise money for children in wheel⁃chairs. They are used to help children witha rare disease called West syndrome. Parrahas been running for about seven years. Inthe past four years， she has run in ChinaPoblana， a traditional Mexican outfit.

What inspired Parra to start thisunique journey？ Several years ago， herinfant daughter， who is now almost eight，was diagnosed with West syndrome. Thedisease is often incurable and can impair achild's ability to laugh， cry， stand， or evenhold their heads up.

“As a mother， I felt a very strong painin my heart and didnt know what I coulddo，”Parra said.“My husband suggestedthat I do something I liked. So I decidedto go for a run.”Starting out wasn't easy，Parra recalled.“The first few times I cried because I wasn't sure what my daughtersfuture was going to be，”she said.

But Parra persevered （堅持）. Afterseveral more runs， she began to train forlonger distances. She then decided to run amarathon for her daughter. A few dayslater， Parra and her husband got a callfrom their daughter's doctor. She had beencured.“

“Because of that，”Parra said，“I de⁃cided to dedicate my steps now for morelittle ones with West syndrome.”To date，Parra has run six marathons. Most of themoney she raises goes towards wheelchairsfor children. Parra now hopes to create afoundation with her husband that will helpeven more children.

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How many marathons has Parra run so far？