In 2024, I will run the Boston Marathon for the 3rd time. It will also be the 3rd time that I run the Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber.
If you know me, you’re not surprised that my biggest reason for running again is my mom. When I first ran in 2015, she was a 20+ year breast cancer survivor. When I ran in 2022, she had been successfully fighting metastatic breast cancer for 4.5 years. And when I run in 2024, it will be in her memory after she lost her fight with cancer on March 1, 2023. My mom was my best friend and while I always will wish I could’ve had many more years with her, I am so grateful for the 5.5 years that I had with her after her metastatic diagnosis, which was made possible by immunotherapy treatment that she received through a clinical trial. I run so that as many people as possible can find treatments that work for them and so that one day, no one will have to live through the heartbreaking experience of watching a loved one die from cancer.
I also run for many other friends and family members who have battled cancer – some who have won and others who have lost, including my Aunt Denise (who was treated at Dana-Farber) and my Grandma.
The progress that has been made in cancer research since the early 1990s when my mom first fought cancer has been absolutely incredible. And that is due in part to the work of the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. One hundred percent of every dollar that I raise will support the Barr Program. While my mom didn’t receive treatment at Dana-Farber, I know that the innovative basic cancer research that the Barr Program conducts powers things like the trial that my mom was able to benefit from and is enabling huge strides to the ultimate finish line of a world without cancer.
In 2015, I raised $8,000. In 2022, I raised over $14,000. This year, I’m setting a goal of $15,531 - in honor of the 5.5 years that my mom fought her battle.
Thank you for your support!
