11 in Charlestown to Run Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

On April 15, 11 residents from Charlestown will be running in the 117th Boston Marathon to help conquer cancer as members of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. 

Charlestown residents Kate Dewey, Jennifer Dunphy, Erin Gowdy, Andrew Heverling, Emily Hodge, Kate Marcus, Kevin McCoy, Aimee McGuire, Jessica McNulty, Catherine Renehan and Julie Van Schalkwyk will join more than 550 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world in running Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston with a goal of raising $4.6 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

One hundred percent of the funds raised will benefit Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which supports cornerstone science research in its earliest stages, providing researchers with critical resources to test their leading-edge ideas. Findings from Barr program research can provide novel clinical insights as well as the results necessary to seek additional federal funding.

Since its inception in 1990, the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $56 million for the Barr Program. Dana-Farber Trustees J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver founded the Barr Program in 1987 to honor Mrs. Weaver’s mother, Claudia Adams Barr, who lost her battle with cancer in 1957.

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 Jack Fultz, the 1976 Boston Marathon men’s champion, plus team training runs, and 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.

To contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, go online to www.RunDFMC.org or contact the Dana-Farber Running Programs office at 617-632-1970 or dfmc@dfci.harvard.edu. Follow the DFMC on Facebook: www.facebook/marathonchallenge.

Planning to run the Boston Marathon this year?