While Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd didn’t finish the Keys100, a race that runs for 100 miles over 32 hours, she has given active living advocates a boost, running more than 40 miles in a calf-length black habit before the 60-year-old called it quits.
She had run the 40 miles in less than a day to raise awareness for orphans of AIDS victims, according to an Associated Press report, before stomach ailments put a stop to her quest on May 16 while a teammate finished the race in her honor.
Comparing herself to music star Johnny Cash, Sister Mary Elizabeth told the Miami Herald, "I wear black to draw attention," adding that she’s doing it "for the orphaned children."
The nun has previously worked on a book about the epidemic of children who are forced to become heads of households after a parent succumbs to an HIV-related disease called Aids Orphans Rising.
She says that a child-headed household is formed, and that number will rise as the number of children orphaned by AIDS is expected to reach 25 million by next year, which is why she ran, and why she says, "We are all affected and we all have a responsibility to help each other."
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