ROCHESTER, N.Y. – One year ago, retired RPD Sgt. Brett Sobieraski had run dozens of marathons towards his goal of running from Florida to Rochester, 26.2 miles at a time. “8 States for Maz: The Humanity Tour,” was intended to bring awareness to the murder of Rochester Police Officer Tony Mazurkewicz and support the family he left behind.

“Hundreds of people honored Tony’s sacrifice and they never even met him, hundreds of people donated from eight states away to a family they never met, it was just incredible the amount of humanity out there, it was incredible,” Sobieraski said.

When Sobieraski made it to Rochester, hundreds, if not thousands of others joined him for the final few miles, including Officer Mazurkewicz’s wife Lynn and their children.

“When you give, you realize at the end that you receive so much more like I got so much more than I put into it, it changed my life, it really did,” he reflected.

As his body adjusted to not running daily marathons, his head and heart kept reflecting on the experience. So, he decided to put pen to paper.

“It was very cathartic to write it, I did a lot of laughing, a lot of crying… all those emotions were kind of real and raw,” Sobieraski said.

It’s something he thinks others might be able to learn from. Just like Lynn is taking it day by day without her husband, and Sobieraski took it day by day running each marathon.

“Make it through today, especially for those people who are struggling whether it’s addiction or the loss of a loved one, or even chronic pain, to live with chronic pain is terrible, just make it to tomorrow, and then tomorrow, we’ll figure that day out and we’ll make it to the next day,” he advised.

So, what’s next for the man who ran 50 straight marathons?

“I think next year, I’m going to go the Sahara desert and there’s this race, it’s six days through the Sahara desert and you stay in these little goat Berber tepees at night and you have to carry everything on your back, they only give you water,” Sobieraski revealed.

Sobieraski has also previously swam 32 miles across Lake Ontario and run a 155-mile ultra marathon.

If you’re interested in Sobieraski’s book, “8 States for Maz: The Humanity Tour,” it’s available on Amazon now. All of the proceeds will go to the Mazurkewicz family.

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