When Crossmedia Global CEO and Co-Founder Kamran Asghar walks to raise money for cancer research, he means business.  

In fact, earlier this week he walked for 13 hours throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn and set a personal best endurance record of 81,691 steps. That’s 40.5 miles, which he achieved in 13 hours of walking and 15 hours of total time.  

By comparison, a marathon is a mere 26.2 miles.  

It’s the third consecutive year that Asghar and many on the Crossmedia team have participated in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Free Challenge.   

Years ago the event began as a way to support Crossmedia client ACS and has evolved into an annual tradition that combines endurance challenge, industry meetup, and fundraiser.   

For Asghar, the challenge is personal. Around the same time Crossmedia began working with ACS, Asghar lost his uncle to a cancer that went largely undiagnosed – reinforcing how the disease impacts everyone.  

The donation goal is $7,000 (over $4,000 raised at deadline) and participants, including agency staff, ACS members and others have two weeks to complete their walks.

On Tuesday, the day of his walk, Asghar was up very early, starting the first two-hours of the walk virtually on a treadmill beginning at 5 a.m. The walk then continued from Harlem to and through Central Park and zigzagging through midtown west to east over the Brooklyn Bridge and back. The end point: ACS Hope Lodge in Mid-town, followed by a celebration at Crossmedia’s NYC office.  

Pictured above (l to r): Martin Albrecht, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Crossmedia and Asghar at the Brooklyn Bridge during the walk. Below: (l to r): Asghar, Hope Lodge General Manager Lorraine Katt, and Robin Flay, Director, Corporate Relations, American Cancer Society.