Hardly anyone will lose money betting against the Brazilians this Tuesday (31) at São Silvestre. Nor will you earn an amount worth the investment. Brazil has not taken the test since 2010 (men) and 2006 (women).
However, for those who don’t follow the event glued to the TV – the audience shouldn’t be overwhelming at 7:30 am –, but participating in it, the victory of another Kenyan or another Ethiopian matters a lot.
The important thing is to complete the “15 km marathon” and start the last day of the year well. If you’re going to be in São Paulo on that date, let it be au grand complet. But let’s get to the point: among the more than 37 thousand runners in this 99th edition of the SS, there are three that deserve mention in this last No Corre de 2024.
Willian dos Santos, 30, Eduardo Martiniano Gonçalves, 36, and Fred Nelson Aquino Sanches, 26, are part of the Pão do Povo da Rua project, by São Paulo researcher and chef Ricardo Frugoli.
Every day, Pão offers food, or rather food dignity, to at least 1,200 homeless people in the center of São Paulo. Created during the pandemic, the project also provides professional training in baking and some administrative functions for a few dozen people.
The project, which faced so many setbacks in moving forward, is explicitly inspired by Greyston Bakery, a New York confectionery specializing in brownies. As Frugoli told this columnist last March, Greyston Bakery founder Bernie Glassman used to say that he “didn’t hire people to make brownies, but he made brownies to hire people.”
William, Eduardo and Fred are some of Pão’s employees. The first two race professionally, that is, they have the mission of representing the project in this very special forum, gravel. Fred works in the core activity, he is a confectioner.
This Sheet has already told the poignant story of the general supervisor of Pão do Povo da Rua, the former landscaper Ricardo Mendes, 44, who, like his fellow runners, spent much of his life on the streets, was a crack user and found shelter and, to be said, resurrection, with the opportunity given by Frugoli.
I found out about the three runners before I even met Pão, when I saw, on a website, Eduardo and William’s incredible time in a race that I also participated in, the Troféu Cidade de São Paulo, held on the capital’s anniversary, on January 25th. past.
Eduardo completed the 10 km in 38min54, 59 seconds faster than William and light years ahead of this columnist, who celebrated having run at a sub 5 pace (under 5 min/km).
William was a crack user for 14 years, Eduardo for four, and Fred lived inside an ATM in Praça da Sé. I never went hungry.
More than the race, which today keeps William and Eduardo committed and focused, although with a training standard closer to that of an amateur, it was Frugoli who effectively reached out to them, holding the bar and maintaining their mental sanity when everything was working against them: lack of sponsorship, the disdain of society, the often violent reactions of those welcomed, especially those diagnosed with schizophrenia.
If we still carried wallets, we should carry a 3×4 from Frugoli and others from the Pão boys inside them, as saints.
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