Paul Tergat, who has run the marathon faster than anyone on earth, addressed a gathering of more than 700 runners on Nov. 18, and said hardly a word about running.

Instead, the subject was hunger.

The reed-thin Kenyan (6-foot 1-inch, 140 pounds) was in Battery Park to kick off a 3-mile “fun run,” sponsored by Citicorp, to raise money for the World Food Program.

Tergat, now an ambassador for the program, is a living example of the W.F.P.’s mission. As an impoverished child in the drought ridden countryside of Kenya, Tergat was fed at his elementary school with free lunches provided by the organization.

“I want to see children having enough to eat when they go off to school,” said Tergat, 38, who won the 2005 New York City Marathon and, in 2003, became the first runner in history to complete the 26.2-mile race in under two hours and five minutes. “I believe there is enough food in this world for children, each one to have, and not only food but quality food.”

The event raised more than $100,000 mostly from employees in the Citicorp tower at North Moore and Greenwich Street.