Meet Burgerman

Samuel B. Novey ’11 says that he’s passionate about three things: running, education, and burgers. Like any good multitasking Harvard student, Novey isn’t content to enjoy these things one at a time. He’s decided to put them together.

Novey, who bills himself as Burgerman, plans to run the Boston Marathon in April while wearing a burger costume. Having made a killer YouTube video, he’s asking individuals and businesses to give him money to complete the wacky task, hoping to raise $100,000 to benefit the charity Citizen Schools.

Each Saturday leading up to the marathon, Novey invites community members to accompany him on a two-mile training run. All those who jog alongside Burgerman will receive free burgers from Harvard Square's b.good at the end of the run.

On the first of these weekly runs on Saturday, Novey said that 30 people came to exercise and eat.

Novey has run the Boston Marathon for the past two years. Last year, he noticed a fellow runner in a burger costume. After chatting with the sandwich-clad man, Novey learned that he was sponsored by b.good. Novey sent a limerick to the owner of b.good, asking to be the next Burgerman—and before he knew it, he was wearing the 12-pound stretch Lycra suit around his hips.

His main concern about running in a hamburger suit? “It’s really important to be able to pee before and during a marathon,” he said. “I’m a little concerned about how that’s going to work.”

Novey has worked for Citizen Schools, an organization which brings volunteer teachers to middle schools to share their knowledge through after-school programs, for the past two years. “Normally when Burgerman sees a problem, he just throws some ketchup on it, and that usually makes it better,” he said. But when it came to the problem of improving education, “this was just not something that could be solved by ketchup. We need some resources.”

Novey said that he received 50 individual donations within the first two hours after his fundraising campaign opened on Friday. He hopes to raise more money through his forthcoming Web site, which he promises will “really knock your buns off.”

Photo courtesy of Samuel B. Novey '11.