High Points: The Talented Ms. Selby
My week began this past Monday with a high point when I opened The Aspen Times to find a photo and a cover story about May Selby. Anytime I see May’s name or picture in the paper, I stop to read the story. There’s been a lot of stops over the years. But this one was a little different.
As the article featured May, there were many things it could have been about. Was it a story on DJ Mayfly spinning sweet sounds at a high-end local party? Could it be a feel-good piece about her role as a mother to her Philadelphia Eagles fan Remy or as a wife to her entrepreneurial chef/restaurant-owner husband Troy? Perhaps it was a professional profile describing her role creating unforgettable VIP events and memories for guests and clients at The Little Nell hotel. Or maybe it was a story marking her one-thousand-and-umpteenth Mountain Mayhem column, which appears weekly in this very paper.
It could have been a feature on any of these things, and more, as each of May’s many personas is worthy of ink. But River Stingray’s cover story was about something completely different and yet something so totally May. She was giving back on the run.
As I delved into the piece, I discovered that, in a few days, she will be taking a long flight to Australia, where she will be on a mission to help raise funds for another local charitable icon, the Chris Klug Foundation. She is doing so by tying a fundraiser that will help so many in need of organ transplants with her personal accomplishments as she runs the 2025 TCS Sydney Marathon. Like I said, “So May.”
And this is not her first rodeo. It is her second time raising funds for the Chris Klug Foundation, but it will be her — get this — 48th marathon. That means the girl has so far run 1,232.3 miles in actual marathon races over the course of her life. You’ll be able to add another 26.2 after she finishes in Sydney at the end of the month.
Now, I knew that May was a serious marathoner, but I had no idea she had completed so many epic events. Among the 47 races she has started and finished are marathons in New York, London, Chicago, and Boston. She has hopes to compete in future events in Berlin and Tokyo as she is on a quest to acquire the Abbott World Marathon Majors Six-Star Medal. Those six marathons are considered to be the “majors,” and finishing any of them, much less all six, is a significant accomplishment.
To make the runs even more meaningful, May has set up a page to take donations for the Chris Klug Foundation at sm25.grassrootz.com/chris-klug-foundation/may-selby. As of this writing, there have been just under $4,000 in contributions made, many by locals who appreciate both her and her running, as well as the great work of the Chris Klug Foundation as it endeavors to raise awareness for its very important foundation, which was started back in 2003 by May’s friend and Aspen legend, Olympic Bronze Medalist Chris Klug.
“Why CKF?” May wrote on the overview of her donation page. “I am grateful to take on this challenge to pursue my World Marathon Majors medal. (I’ve run four out of six of these races, and Sydney was recently added as seven, so I’m headed Down Under to get ahead). There are still more than 103,000 people in the U.S. who cannot commit to this type of task because they’re awaiting a lifesaving transplant. Seventeen of these people die each day waiting for their transplant. And every nine minutes, someone new is added to that waitlist. Just one person has the ability to save up to eight lives as an organ donor and improve up to 75 lives through tissue and eye donation. Although 96% of U.S. adults support the idea of organ donation, only 48% are actually registered as organ donors. I’m running in the hope of eliminating the wait for a transplant.”
We can all run alongside May in Sydney. Make a donation, and support both her achievements and the spirit of her generosity and you will be along for the ride on the 48th marathon of her illustrious running career.
That is a high point if I ever heard one. Thanks for the story, River.
