Edward Norton To Run With Maasai During New York City Marathon

Edward Norton is usually very reserved but I knew something was up when I saw him pop up as a verified account on Twitter.

Edward Norton? Tweeting?

There's a method to this method actor's madness. The Oscar-nominated actor plans to run the New York City Marathon with three Maasai warriors on his team of 30.

The  goal is to raise awareness and money for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, a Kenya-based conservation organization. No better company for Norton to keep, as The Maasai tribe is known to run for days, holding spears and shields to protect their cattle from lions. They also hunt lions for food.

“Their approach to conservation is a model for the kind of partnerships we need to forge if we're going to solve the puzzle of being human but living sustainably within our environment," said Norton, who became involved with the tribe through the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust in 2001. The trust will benefit from the generous donations made through MaasaiMarathon.com.

Checking out the website, you can sponsor a runner and there it is -- follow Edward Norton's training on Twitter. Norton does not appear to be the type who wants to Tweet what he had for lunch today, who he thinks is hot in Maxim or his opinion of last night's episode of "Grey's Anatomy." In fact, one of his latest tweets announces that Alanis Morissette is going to be joining the group on November 1.

Norton says he came up with the idea because "[Maasai] are born runners, runners as a matter of culture and heritage, I've never run a marathon before and the difficulty of it is both intimidating and motivating, especially when it's for a cause like this."

This is such an inspired and well-planned venture, I can't help but encourage you to meet the runners and perhaps even make a donation.

Photo courtesy of edward norton's twitter.