Long time Kiwanian Hal Jackson, president of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Pomona, will compete in the half marathon at the Long Beach Marathon on Sunday, October 11. At the age of 78 years, this is the first time he will participate in a marathon. The Kiwanis Club of Greater Pomona meets Wednesday at the Home Kitchen Café, 309 East Foothill Blvd. in Pomona at 7 a.m. in the morning.
A half marathon is 13.1 miles. Hal Jackson plans to walk the distance just under 3 1/2 hours. He is competing for the Leukemia& Lymphoma Society in its endeavor to help cure blood cancers. He has been training since May with Team In Training (TNT) a training arm of the Society. Blood cancers include leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and myeloma.
Jackson will walk in memory of his friend Willie ”Keys” Howard, his godson Duane’s father. Keys died from myeloma. He will also walk to honor Mildred Halstead and Thomas Moore members of the San Dimas Community Church, United Church of Christ where he attends. Mildred has been treated for lymphoma and has been cancer-free for over twenty-three years. Tom has recently been declared cancer-free after having suffered from multiple myeloma for over a year.
Reverend Jackson an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ denomination retired from the State of California in 1994 as a prison chaplain, after serving almost twenty-one years at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility in Chino. The institution houses young men from seventeen to twenty-five years of age. He later served as pastor of the Mentone Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in Mentone.
Hal Jackson plans to do 26.2 miles in the 2011 Los Angeles Marathon to celebrate his eightieth birthday in January of that year.