Hi! I'm Brendan and I'm proud to be participating in the 128th Boston Marathon® as part of Dana-Farber's Marathon Challenge team! I'm running in honor of two incredible people in my life, Patrick Beauregard and Mary Piccolo.
My brother Pat was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer in September 2017 at the age of just 29. A United States Marine, Pat was treated right at Dana-Farber by his great oncologist, Dr. Kimmie Ng. He went on to become a colorectal cancer advocate, appearing on media outlets both local and national such as NBC's The Today Show, and being featured alongside Dr. Ng at Dana-Farber's Young-Onset Colorectal Cancer Center. Though Pat, unfortunately, passed away in September 2020, His legacy and work live on, and I want to do my part in supporting the very place that helped extend my brother's life long enough to meet his son, Noah Patrick Beauregard.
Additionally, I'm also running in honor of my close family friend, Mary, who was recently diagnosed with uveal melanoma--a form of eye cancer. Mary is one of my mom's best friends who has truly been an invaluable source of positivity and support for my family--from doing small things such as picking me up from grade school when I was small to big things like organizing meal trains for my family during both my father's and brother's cancer journeys. Mary is one of those people anyone should strive to be like, and it's a privilege to be running to recognize a great person and her impact.
100% of every dollar raised by the DFMC team supports the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. That means every amount, whether one dollar or $100, is directly going to funding the critical research to combat this horrible disease that is cancer.
Please join me and the DFMC team in our mission by donating/sharing my page today. Together, ALL of us can get closer to that one day of a world without cancer. As Pat once said, "There is always hope." LFG
UPDATE 2/23: WOW! Saying thank you to everyone who has supported my page isn't enough. The fact that we not only achieved our original $15,000 goal but also our last goal of $20,000 raised is truly incredible--and it's not even March! Still, there's always more we can do, and we're just getting started. Join me in my new efforts to raise $25,000 and make that positive impact today! LETS. GO.
UPDATE 3/27: Hi all! I didn't imagine we'd get to $25,000 raised so quickly--especially before April!--and yet we did thanks to YOU. I cannot thank everyone enough for rallying together on this. It truthfully means more than you'll ever know. While we have a now updated fourth goal, the focus is fully on running those 26.2 miles come April 15 so why not match that with the new goal. LFG!