Posted: November 18, 2008, 5 a.m. EST
Beth Ostrosky looked flushed with victory as she pumped her fists into the air while crossing the finish line at the New York City Marathon earlier this month. But the real winner that day was the North Shore Animal League, which received $300,000 in donations from Ostrosky and her team of 20 runners.
“This was the happiest day of my life,” said Ostrosky, who serves as celebrity spokesperson for the Long Island animal shelter, in an interview with the New York Daily News.
Ostrosky’s new husband, shock jock Howard Stern, who contributed $5,000 to Ostrosky’s “Team O,” greeted the ex-model at the finish line. “Oh, honey, you earned this,” he said as his wife fell into his arms.
Stern wasn’t the only high-profile celebrity to lend Ostrosky support. Friend and retired tennis ace Monica Seles helped calm Ostrosky’s jitters the night before the big race.
“She told me to use my nervousness to keep going,” Ostrosky said. “I just kept thinking about seeing Howard and [his daughter] Ashley on the finish line.”