Jeff Arricale Runs for Good Causes

Brian Sullam

Jeff Arricale has a sheaf of e-mails that he keeps as a treasured memento
from his race in the grueling six-day, 151-mile Marathon des Sables (Marathon
of the Sands) in the Moroccan desert. They are messages from friends and
T. Rowe Price colleagues.

“There is no way to convey how important they were and how much they meant
to me,” says Jeff, while sitting in his office nearly two months later.
“When I was running in the desert at 2 a.m. I read some of these e-mails,
and they lifted my spirits.”

Jeff manages the T. Rowe Price Financial Services Fund and leads the team
of financial analysts that recommends financial stocks to the firm's other
portfolio managers.

Jeff's punishing experience in the Moroccan desert is part of his ongoing
effort to raise awareness and money for children's interstitial lung disease
that affects two of his four children─Jake, his six-year-old son, and Gracie,
his 10-month-old daughter. Sisters Emma, four, and Sami, two, do not have
the disease.

Childhood interstitial lung disease is not really a disease but a group
of disorders that leads to inflammation and scarring of the tissues that
separate the lung's air sacs to the point that they become stiff and lose
their ability to absorb oxygen. Children with the syndrome often breathe
very rapidly, lose weight, and fail to thrive. In many cases, children can
outgrow the condition and go on to lead healthy lives. Jeff says Jake is
doing much better and shows signs of overcoming the disease. Gracie has
had a number of major operations to deal with her condition and currently
requires a great deal of care.

Jeff Becomes a Fundraiser

Research into the disease is in its infancy. Because the condition is rare,
researchers have trouble funding their projects. Since the usual sources─
the federal government and pharmaceutical companies─offer minimal amounts,
Jeff decided that the one thing he could do is raise money to finance more
research into childhood interstitial lung disease.
Jeff never was a competitive runner, but he noticed that people running
on behalf of charities could raise a considerable sum. “I like running.
It keeps me in shape, helps me to manage stress, and some other good things,”
Jeff says.

In 2001, he ran the Baltimore Marathon, his first. Jeff's list of marathons
keeps growing and getting more challenging.

Last year, he ran the Great Wall of China Marathon, a rugged race that includes
a six-mile segment on the wall itself with steep ascents and descents and
thousands of steps. “It was such a unique event I thought I could raise
some money for [johns] Hopkins,” says Jeff. (Equity colleagues Elizabeth
Schlicher and Alex Frey accompanied Jeff to China for the race and helped
raise funds.)
Jeff was able to raise about $70,000 from friends, colleagues, and the T.
Rowe Price Foundation, which matched employee contributions. He had hoped
to raise enough money to finance one lecture and grand rounds on childhood
interstitial lung disease by a national expert at Johns Hopkins Hospital,
where his children are treated. His fundraising not only paid for a Houston
researcher's visit, but it ensured the lecture will continue in the future.

“I was surprised by the outpouring of support,” says Jeff. He says that
his T. Rowe Price colleagues are an athletically oriented, competitive bunch.
The challenge of running on the Great Wall resonated with them. He says
that a number of them said, “If you are crazy enough to do that, I'll write
you a check.”

After surviving that grueling experience, Jeff sought out another challenging
event. Former T. Rowe Price employee Aran Gordon, a Marathon des Sables
veteran, suggested Jeff might like the challenge of running in the desert.

Instead of using his run in Morocco to benefit a cause that so directly
benefited him and his family, Jeff consulted with a number of T. Rowe Price
associates involved with the T. Rowe Price Foundation and the Community
Relations Department. Jeff decided to run for three causes that the foundation
has supported in the past─the Maryland chapter of the Special Olympics,
Opportunity International, and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Jeff's goal is to raise $100,000 for the three organizations. By early June,
more than $70,000 had been donated.

Jeff says that during the Marathon des Sables, race organizers brought sheaves
of e-mails to each runner's tent every night. “They were the only luxury
item and one of the highlights of the race,” Jeff recalls. “They were
more important to me than the donations.”

Jeff's Secret

Jeff is currently preparing to run the 50-mile Rim to Rim to Rim in the
Grand Canyon and the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run. He is preparing for
these ultra-marathon races by running in a number of regular 26-mile marathons.
As part of the entrance requirements for the Vermont 100, Jeff will have
to do eight hours of community service, which in his case will be clearing
public trails around his Monkton home.

Jeff and his wife Jessie believe that setting personal challenges also sets
a good example for their children. “They can see the preparation we go
through to meet those challenges and get a better understanding of what
it takes to accomplish goals.”
What's Jeff's secret that allows him to attend to the demands of his family,
his job, and his training regimen? “Go to bed late, and get up early,”
he says.