Written by Anthony Simonetti ME’15
Background
Anthony Simonetti adamantly claims not to be a runner, but he’s run all 6 major marathons for charity. He’s also an experienced educator at high-school and college levels —specializing in mathematics, physics, and engineering— who spent 15 years teaching and providing professional development to educators across continents. In Sierra Leone, he helped deliver curriculum via text message and radio to students who lacked internet access. He holds several degrees from Cooper Union: a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters degrees in Mechanical and Civil Engineering. For his Masters project, he designed a first-ever MRI-compatible Airway Phantom that was used to further research in sleep apnea. Oh, and he also earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He continues to be committed to the benefits of one-on-one tutoring and championing mission-focused education projects through his education company. He also dabbles in real estate investing and travels regularly to undertake a variety of adventures and philanthropic endeavors.
Running
Anthony’s six star journey started in 2018 when he registered for the NYC Marathon as a personal challenge. He had no prior experience with marathons or long distance running. As preparation for his first marathon, he trained up to 10 or so miles and then fractured his tailbone a week before NYC (but still finished).
A year later, he applied to be a “Saint Jude Hero” at the Boston Marathon to honor his late aunt and was selected as one of 5 runners from a pool of over 300 athletes. Anthony tells us, “The next three marathons were a fever dream. I ran Chicago and Berlin back-to-back without any training, and then London the following year. ” He finished the Tokyo Marathon this past year after surviving 10 days on the Pearl Islands without food and shelter! This completed his six star journey – becoming one of only 15,000 runners to complete all 6 World Major Marathons. The six World Major Marathons are: Boston, New York City, Chicago, Berlin, London, Tokyo. On November 3rd, 2024, Sydney Marathon was officially accepted and became the 7th World Marathon Major.
During 2024, Anthony also hiked the Sacred Valley and Salkantay Trek in Peru as an ambassador for St. Jude. In 2026, I will undertake my biggest challenge: the World Marathon Challenge – 7 marathons, 7 days, 7 continents. His goal is to raise $100,000 for the Saint Jude charity which would bring his overall fundraising to more than $200,000!
