Edward Norton Runs NYC Marathon with Maasai Warriors

On Sunday, Fight Club star Edward Norton will join 30 other runners, including Maasai warriors, Alanis Morissette, and David Blaine, in the New York City Marathon in an effort to raise money for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust. "The wildlife from that part of the world is in a lot of ways the wildlife of our childhood imaginations," Norton told the Canadian Press on Monday. “I think for a lot of people, it's horrifying to imagine having to say to their kids or grandkids that these things used to exist and now they're gone. Most people aren't aware of how possible that is, that lions would actually disappear." Norton first became involved in the cause after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, and staying at Campi ya Kanzi, the Kenyan ecotourism lodge where the conservation effort began. Noting the organization’s need for global giving and the importance of running to Maasai life, Norton thought of the New York City Marathon. The three warriors Norton invited to join him in the race will spend the week staying in his Village apartment, reports New York Magazine. “This doesn’t look like our village!” says Samson, one of the warriors. As of Monday, the runners had already raised almost $500,000 through Puma-sponsored t-shirts and online donations.