Tory MP Patrick Brown to run in post-superstorm Sandy New York Marathon

The media — present company included — are quick to pile-on a politician for every little misdeed.

We're a little slower, unfortunately, when it comes to heap praise upon them.

Patrick Brown deserves our praise.

The Tory backbencher from Barrie, Ontario will be heading south this weekend to run in the world-famous New York Marathon. The veteran MP and veteran runner will don his running shoes for 26 miles (42.195 kilometers) to raise money for juvenile diabetes, a cause that is near and dear to his heart.

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"What caught my attention at the NY marathon was the charity of choice by the marathon organizers was diabetes and I chair the all-party caucus on juvenile diabetes and I thought this might be a good fundraiser for the cause," he told Yahoo! Canada News.

"There's this young boy [in my riding] named Noah Stock, he's 9. He's the most eloquent cute little kid when he talks about what it's like to live with [juvenile diabetes] so I've promised Noah that I would help him fundraise for our local chapter."

Brown says that this will be his 7th marathon; his most recent one was in May in Toronto where he finished with a time of three hours, 12 minutes.

This will, however, be his first marathon in New York and he's anxious to see what the Big Apple is looking like post Hurricane Sandy.

"I was worried that I might have to swim rather than run," he quipped.

[ Related: MPs chase pucks for charity in Dubai's desert ]

Brown also organized his own half marathon in Barrie over the last two years. The first year he had 700 runners and raised $25,000 for the Barrie cardiac unit and last year had 1,200 runners and raised over $30,000.

For juvenile diabetes, his goal is to raise $10,000.

Anyone who wishes to contribute can do so through this website.