In 2018, Porter and I set out on a mission to raise as much money as possible for various charities by running races together. And to clarify, I was running and he was getting pushed in his Puppy Buggy. Our first race together was a 5K in Newburyport where I found myself pushing Porter and running alongside the legendary Dick Hoyt pushing his son Rick. He smiled and laughed when he saw I was running pushing a dog in a giant running stroller. After the race, he came up to us to say hello and meet Porter. I told him I wanted to run the Boston Marathon pushing Porter and he was the first person that didn’t flinch or think I was crazy hearing this plan. He simply smiled and said, “You will. This is what it’s all about. It’s all about inclusion. For my son and for Porter.”
Porter and I went on to run the B.A.A. 10K and Half Marathon, raising several thousand dollars for Dana-Farber. We did indeed go on to run the 2019 Boston Marathon for Boston Children’s Hospital where Porter was a Therapy Dog. Less than 2 months before the marathon, the B.A.A. informed me that I would not be allowed to run with Porter in his stroller due to safety regulations and changes since the bombing. I made the decision to run the marathon solo and the next day ran the race AGAIN pushing Porter in his Puppy Buggy on an unsupported course with full traffic. We raised over $30,000 for Boston Children’s Hospital. When the 2020 Boston Marathon was cancelled, we ran virtually together for what I thought was our last marathon.
Since then, I’ve had many dreams come true; I met my amazing husband and gave birth to our beautiful son, Grady. Together we’ve also braved significant sadness in our lives including five miscarriages and losing both our dogs, Radar and Porter, to cancer within one month of each other. This past year, we’ve seen our family personally affected by cancer as my Father-in-Law, Paul Roney, underwent a bone marrow transplant at Dana-Farber and continues his ongoing treatment plan. My dear friend, Elaine Conley, lost her battle with leukemia just weeks ago at age 52 leaving behind her 4 children. And most recently, my beautiful aunt, Janice Harradon, now sets out to take on stage 4 metastatic breast cancer with Dana-Farber.
I hadn’t planned to run another marathon, especially after just losing Porter; yet here I am, being called to take on the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston once again. This time I won’t be pushing Porter in his Puppy Buggy, but I will most certainly be carrying him in my heart.
Please join me in my efforts to raise as much money as possible for cancer research with the amazing Dana-Farber Team to honor all those that have lost their battles or continue to fight so bravely.
I run this race in loving memory of my beautiful friend, Elaine Conley and dedicate each and every mile to my wonderful Father-in-Law, Paul Roney and my beloved Auntie Janice Harradon.
