Manny Karageorgiou
It is with great sadness that we report that Legend Manuel “Manny” Karageorgiou (S0045) lost his long battle with Multiple Myeloma on January 4th, 2018. He was diagnosed early in 2014 so completed the 2014 to 2016 Melbourne Marathons while receiving treatment.
Manny is third from left in this photograph with the other Spartan Legends prior to the start of the 2017 marathon. He knew that he was too ill to complete the event, but was determined to start, wearing his gold 40th singlet. The Legends were delighted to see him, but greatly saddened by the thought that he would be unable to finish.
His fastest marathon of 3hr26min51sec was set in 2001 at the age of 45.
We don’t have many pictures of Manny, but the image at right shows him leading me (David Foskey) home in 1998 in a time of 3hr42min. He isn’t wearing a gold singlet in this photograph, and I believe that he ran without a Spartan singlet in some other years. I’m not sure why, but it could have been unwarranted modesty on his part.
Several years later I ran several kilometres with him along Beach Road, and I was impressed by the large number of relatives and friends who had come to watch and support him. In hindsight, they must all have known that he was ill but he didn’t say a word about it to me. And, he beat me home.
Manny with Grandchild Oli
From Leni Karageorgiou, Manny’s daughter and Oli’s mother
“Oli was diagnosed with High-Risk/Stage 4 Neuroblastoma at just 2 years old. He underwent a nightmarish 18 months treatment at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and then we were fortunate to raise enough funds to participate in a 2 year clinical trial only available in America. Oli has now been clear of Neuroblastoma for two years, however, many side effects of treatment remain.
“I’m helping coordinate this year’s Run2Cure event for Neuroblastoma Australia – a registered charity focused on finding a cure, and less toxic treatments with fewer side effects for Neuroblastoma. Run2Cure will take place on 10 November 2024 at Albert Park Lake.”
Further details can be found at run2cure.org.au. The Spartans committee has resolved to support this event in honour of Manny.
Tributes to Manny
Here are some blog posts on Manny posted by his friend and fellow Spartan Howard Goldenberg. After you have read them you will better understand how much Manny will be missed.
13/10/2014 – Manny the Marathon Man
26 Oct 2015 – The delinquent chromosome and the marathon runner
23/10/2016 – Empty, empty and desolate the sea
23/10/2017 – It’s not how long you’ve got, it’s what you do with it
09/01/2018 – Goodbye my friend
Howard posts on a wide range of subjects on his blog . Recommended.
This obituary, also written by Howard Goldenberg, was published in The Age on March 16, 2018. See it online here.
Manny always wanted to run the Athens marathon to recognise his Greek heritage but never did so because it is run soon after the Melbourne. In 2018, his son Pana fulfilled this ambition on Manny’s behalf. From Pana’s email: “It was an amazing experience and so wonderful to have Mum there with me. I know that Dad was with me too, especially as I took on the last 10kms!”
Pana has also described his Athens run here (page 13).
See also Dan Cudmore’s story on page 9 of our August 2019 newsletter.
See more information on Manny the runner as one of the Legends.
Here is a tribute to Manny on the Melbourne Marathon site.
And here is a 2011 story on Manny, the “Greek Spartan”.