North Shore Residents To Run Boston Marathon For Dana-Farber Challenge

BEVERLY, MA — Several North Shore runners are among those who are part of the 34th annual running of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge as they raise money for cancer research at the 127th Boston Marathon on April 17.

Beverly residents Dennis Tupper, Bailey Vaselkiv and Matthew Vaselkiv, Randy Suckney of Peabody, Marisa Bono of Salem and Richard Sullivan of Swampscott are also among the more than 500 runners from across the country and around the world working to collectively raise $6.5 million for cancer research this spring.

Money raised by the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team benefits Dana-Farber's Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which supports promising science research in its earliest stages. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $115 million for the Barr Program since the team's inception in 1990.

Bailey Vaselkiv worked early in her career as a clinical research coordinator on a lung cancer study at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center where she interacted with patients every day. She said their strength and stories inspired her and ultimately motivated her decision to pursue an MPH in cancer epidemiology.

She now works in a prostate cancer epidemiology group at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and said on her fundraising page that she and her husband, Matt, are fulfilling their goal of running a marathon together before they start a family together.

Tupper said on his page that he is running in honor of both of his parents, who died over a two-year span, as well as three uncles, his father-in-law, a life-long friend and a person he calls his most vocal non-family support to cancer. This is his fourth Boston Marathon running for the Dana-Farber team and he said he will put in more than 420 miles of training before the April 17 race.

Suckney will lace up the skates and take on the Boston Bruins Alumni in a charity hockey game on April 2 as part of his fundraising efforts.

Bono's fundraising page can be found here, while Sullivan's page can be found here.

Invitational runners who receive their entry from Dana-Farber agree to raise a minimum of $7,500, while own-entry runners who have joined the Dana-Farber team after obtaining their own race entry have a fundraising commitment of $4,500.

Those who want to contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge in the name of any of the North Shore runners can do so here, or by contacting the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge office at 617-632-1970 or dfmc@dfci.harvard.edu.

Are you running the 127th Boston Marathon on April 17? Patch wants to tell your story whether you are running for a charity, a time or just to show you can conquer the distance on the historic course. Contact Scott Souza at scott.souza@patch.com ahead of the race to share details of your training journey for inclusion in future posts about Marathon runners from the North Shore.