PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA AGUILAR
Little Taylor Aguilar is shown enjoying a happy day at the beach.
Runners in Ridgewood remember Taylor Aguilar
JANUARY 23, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY GAIL KISLEVITZ
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Every year for the past three years between Thanksgiving and Christmas, a group of Ridgewood residents participate in a mile challenge. Starting on Thanksgiving, the goal is to run at least a mile a day until Dec. 25. This year, what started out as a way for people to keep off the weight gain during the holiday season turned into an uplifting act for a Ridgewood family’s tragic loss.
For the past three years, Jamie Cariddi of Ridgewood, along with her brother Keith Hollander of Ho-Ho-Kus, both Ridgewood High School graduates (’95 and ’96 respectively) have organized the Mile a Day Challenge. Conceived by Hollander, a marathoner and triathlete, with the idea that participants would run at least a mile a day but no less, he states that “the initial motivation was to provide a challenge to keep people accountable to maintain their fitness during the holiday season.” This initial intent still stands, but this year, the event became something more. The Mile a Day Challenge raised $1,000 for the National Down Syndrome Society in memory of Taylor Aguilar, who passed away in October at age seven from lung disease. Taylor, who was born with Down Syndrome, was the daughter of Anna and Michael Aguilar of Ridgewood, a triplet to her brothers, Michael and John and sister to her brother Max.
https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/runners-remember-taylor-aguilar-1.1234840
