ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A retired Rochester police sergeant is on the run right now. It’s a trip that will see Brett Sobieraski run more than 1,200 miles in the span of a month and a half. He’s doing it for a fellow officer whose life was cut short.

Sobieraski is running with purpose - he's motivated by the memory of a man he first met not long after he first joined the Rochester Police Department.

“There’s no way I’m going to let Tony down,” said Sobieraski.

“Tony” was Anthony Mazurkiewicz, a Rochester police officer, husband, father of four and grandfather of three, who was shot and killed in the line of duty last summer.

“What was particularly sad with Tony, he was so close to retirement, so close to the golden years,” said Sobieraski. “He was so looking forward to not having to go to work, that he could spend his time with his grandkids, and then that was stolen from him.”

A theft of time and a life cut short - this is what motivates Sobieraski now as he embarks on a massive run that will take him across eight states by the second week of June. It's a run that began on April 23 in Florida, one which will see the retired police sergeant run a marathon a day for 48 straight days. 

It's 26.2 miles — every day.

The memory of Mazurkiewicz is what pushes him. Eight states for Maz will raise money for the family Mazurkiewicz left behind. There are several ways to help Sobieraski if you're interested. He’s collecting donations and seeking people to run with him, especially during the final leg of his marathon of marathons.

“All I really want is something of the magnitude that could match Tony's personality,” he said. “And I think this really does.”

As of Tuesday, Sobieraski was more than a third of the way through his string of marathons. Mazurkiewicz’s wife, Lynn, gave him 10 blue heart-shaped stones before leaving. He is placing one in every state he runs through, and saving one for her, and one for himself.

“The important part is for the family that he left behind,” he said. “And I know that Tony is looking down from heaven, but it's so important for those families to know that their loved ones didn't die in vain.”

Sobieraski expects hundreds of runners to join him for the final leg of his final marathon, to the Fallen Officer’s Memorial in front of the Rochester Public Safety Building - the final push in a journey of 1,258 miles.

“It's definitely added motivation,” he said. “Added love and it just helps you to get up in the morning and strap on those shoes and keep going.”