Caring Causes - 1K12M

 Kidney donor athlete Matt Cavanaugh is just over halfway through his 1K12M (One Kidney, 12 Marathons) challenge.

So far this year, Matt has run marathons in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Denver and San Diego, finishing near the top in every event.

“Twin Cities kicked off the second half of this 12-marathon year. This is number seven for me, and it's the starter’s pistol on a fall schedule with six marathons in 10 weeks,” said Matt. “I’m from Como Park in Saint Paul, and so for me to come home, to run past my grade school during the Twin Cities Marathon, is really, really special. I’ll probably tear up as I come down the hill toward the Capitol.”

Matt’s participation in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon will be sponsored by the National Kidney Registry, with additional support from the University of Minnesota transplant center.

1K12M is a full-year challenge sponsored by the National Kidney Registry, in which Matt and fellow kidney donor Hilary Baude will participate in 12 marathons throughout 2023 all across the United States. Matt and Hilary were featured in The 50 Most Interesting Athletes.

1K12M is Matt’s latest attempt to shatter the misperception that kidney donation imposes physical limits on donors. In 2022, Matt became the first living kidney donor to finish the 4 Deserts race series, which covered 1,000 kilometers across Namibia, Georgia, Chile, and Antarctica. He won the Last Desert/Antarctica leg and finished as the fastest American to ever race the 4 Deserts (with one kidney or two). 

After the race in the Twin Cities, Matt plans to participate in events in Hartford, Washington D.C., New York City, Philadelphia and Honolulu.

For more information on the 1K12M challenge, visit the Donor Games website.

About Matt Cavanaugh
Matt Cavanaugh, PhD, is a retired US military officer who serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Kidney Donor Organization. He twice earned the Bronze Star Medal, as well as the Combat Action Badge, for his service in Iraq. Matt donated his left kidney on September 15, 2021, to a stranger and started a donation chain.

About the National Kidney Registry
The National Kidney Registry (www.kidneyregistry.org) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to save and improve the lives of people facing kidney failure by increasing the quality, speed, and number of living donor transplants while protecting all living donors.