Ten Years, Nine Marathons: Bold&Zeal Founder Erica Bazerkanian Runs 2026 NYC Marathon For People Living With Paralysis

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Erica Bazerkanian (center, holding the Team Reeve sign) with members of the first Team #IAMSTONE at the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon, where 10 runners raised nearly $60,000 for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

Erica Bazerkanian running the 2025 Chicago Marathon for Team Reeve on October 12, 2025, the day Bold&Zeal launched.

Erica Bazerkanian with her father, Jeff Stone, during the five months after his 2016 spinal cord stroke. Around him are cards from his grandchildren and first-place ribbons his grandson gave him.

Team #IAMSTONE has raised over $235,000 for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation since 2017

Through Team #IAMSTONE, [Erica Bazerkanian] has helped rally runners, donors and supporters around the urgent need to improve life for people living with paralysis.” - Kelly Lamb, Director of Development, Christopher & Dana Reeve FoundationLOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, October 22, 2026 /EINPresswire / -- On November 1, Erica Bazerkanian, 53, will run the TCS New York City Marathon for Team Reeve on the same course where she founded Team #IAMSTONE in memory of her father, Jeff Stone. It will be her ninth marathon supporting the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, and it comes days before the 10th anniversary of her father's death after a spinal cord stroke left him paralyzed from the neck down.

The day after the race, Bold&Zeal, the lifestyle brand Bazerkanian built in her father's memory, will recognize the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and the Team Reeve runners and hand cyclists who raise funds for spinal cord injury research. A 60-second Bold&Zeal spot will run once an hour for 24 hours on the digital screen at 1560 Broadway in Times Square. Bazerkanian plans to be at the site on November 2 with Team Reeve runners wearing their medals.

Stone's paralysis began on June 13, 2016. For five months, he could not move, speak or eat, and his family learned to read his lips. He had served three years in the Army and later volunteered with a local veterans organization near his home. In the hospital, he set himself one final goal: to see one last Veterans Day. He died the next day, November 12, 2016, at 71.

Nearly a year later, in November 2017, Bazerkanian ran the New York City Marathon with the first Team #IAMSTONE: 10 runners who raised nearly $60,000. The team's name reflects the family's belief that everyone carries some of Stone's grit and determination. Since then, Team #IAMSTONE has raised more than $235,000 for paralysis research and quality of life supports. This year's five-runner team has set a $30,000 goal and has raised more than $20,000 so far.

“My dad always believed that movement nourishes the soul, and then he lost the ability to move at all,” said Bazerkanian.“He never lost his spirit. Every marathon I run is for him, and for the people living with paralysis who show that same courage every day. Mile 20 hurts. But it's nothing compared with what they face.”

“Erica Bazerkanian has transformed a deeply personal loss into a sustained movement of hope and action. Through Team #IAMSTONE, she has helped rally runners, donors and supporters around the urgent need to improve life for people living with paralysis. Her commitment reflects the spirit of Team Reeve: when we come together, every mile can move us closer to our vision of a world in which spinal cord injury does not result in paralysis and paralysis does not result in diminished quality of life,” said Kelly Lamb, Director of Development, Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

The Reeve Foundation estimates that nearly 5.4 million Americans live with some form of paralysis. Bazerkanian's effort is part of a broader commitment to keep the issue visible beyond race day: Bold&Zeal donates 10% of proceeds from every purchase to the Reeve Foundation. Co-founded by Bazerkanian and her husband, Rafi, on October 12, 2025, the day she ran the Chicago Marathon for Team Reeve, the family-run brand also released The Stone, a limited-edition crewneck marking 10 years since Jeff Stone's stroke.

“Every mile, every donation, every person who has run alongside me in spirit has carried this further than I ever could alone,” Bazerkanian said.“That's what #IAMSTONE means. We all have a little of him in us. Nobody rises alone. That belief is also the foundation of Bold&Zeal: an extension of my dad's story and a way to lift others up.”

Media Availability
Bazerkanian is available for interviews in New York on October 30, October 31 and November 2. The Times Square photo opportunity is Monday, November 2, at 1560 Broadway; exact time to be confirmed. Photos of Bazerkanian with her father, the 2017 Team #IAMSTONE and past Team Reeve finish lines are available on request.

Supporters can donate to Team #IAMSTONE at ChristopherReeve/IAMSTONE and follow race week at @boldandzeal on Instagram. Bazerkanian's race bib is 19695; spectators can track her through the TCS New York City Marathon app.

About Bold&Zeal
Bold&Zeal is a family-run lifestyle apparel brand that inspires people to live boldly and rise through adversity. Co-founded in 2025 by Erica and Rafi Bazerkanian in memory of Erica's father, Jeff Stone, the brand makes premium-quality everyday essentials and donates 10% of proceeds from every purchase to the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. Bold&Zeal is based in Los Angeles. Learn more at boldandzeal or on Instagram at @boldandzeal.

Blair Kaplan
Blair Kaplan Communications Inc
+1 604-838-4234

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Ten Years, Nine Marathons: Bold&Zeal Founder Erica Bazerkanian Runs 2026 NYC Marathon for People Living With Paralysis News Provided By Blair Kaplan Communications Inc October 22, 2026, 11:15 GMT Share This Article Distribution channels: Consumer Goods, Culture, Society & Lifestyle, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals Industry, Movie Industry, Retail

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