On April 15, Charlestown residents are running to conquer cancer as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team in the 123rd Boston Marathon®. Residents include:
•Jessica Brodie
•Lauren Hatch
•Emily Hodge
•Keely Macmillan
•Kathryn Magnoli
•Steph Martin
•Timothy O’Leary
•Miranda Wiley
Along with more than 500 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world, they will run Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston to raise $6 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
This year marks the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC) team’s 30th annual running in the Boston Marathon. One hundred percent of the money raised by DFMC goes to Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research that supports promising science research in its earliest stages. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised nearly $93 million to date.
In 1990, Dana-Farber was among the first charity organizations to be recognized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A), which organizes the Boston Marathon. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team offers its members extensive fundraising support, training guidance from 1976 Boston Marathon men’s champion Jack Fultz, and team training runs, plus volunteer opportunities for non-runners. Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge runners who are not time-qualified for the Boston Marathon receive an invitational entry into the race.
Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge runners include cancer survivors and patients, and family and friends of those who have been affected by cancer. Each team member must fulfill a basic fundraising commitment:
•Invitational runners, runners who receive their entry from Dana-Farber, have a fundraising commitment of $5,000.
•Own entry runners, runners who have joined the DFMC after obtaining their own race entry, have a fundraising commitment of $4,000.
A cornerstone of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge is its Partner Program. Each year, approximately 50 current and former pediatric cancer patients of Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic are paired with DFMC runners as “Patient Partners.” For the young patients, their partnerships with the runners provide a unique and friendly focus outside their illnesses. Another two dozen Partner Program families are paired with runners through the “In-Memory Program” in remembrance of their children’s brave struggle with the disease. To contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, visit RunDFMC.org or contact the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge office at (617) 632-1970 or [email protected]. Follow DFMC on Facebook:www.facebook/marathonchallenge. On Twitter: #RunDFMC.