Amherst, Here Are Your Boston Marathon Runners

So many runners will be running in Boston this year, with so many reasons to run.

The 117th annual Boston Marathon takes place on April 15 this year, taking runners through the course that threads from the Hopkinton starting line to Boston.

As it states on the official website, "the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world's most prestigious road racing events. The Boston Athletic Association manages this American classic, which is sponsored by John Hancock Financial Services. The Boston Marathon has distinguished itself as the pinnacle event within the sport of road racing by virtue of its traditions, longevity and method of gaining entry into the race (via qualification)."

So who's running from Amherst? Here is the updated list, as posted on the Boston Marathon site:

• Bolton, Brittany
• Dionne, Gary C.
• Earley, Gregory D.
• Hawkes, Adam M.
• Jordan, Gail
• Kellndorfer, Lisa
• Raymond, Michael G.
• Rowlson, Marisa
• Stoller, Craig
• Swanson, Erik
• Vancelette, Stanley R.
• Varanka, Alexandra C.
• Whiteley, Theresa R.

Adam Hawkes will be running in the marathon to help conquer cancer as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. Hawkes, along with more than 550 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world, will run Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston with a goal to raise $4.6 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Gregory Earley will be running on behalf of Team Earley, who raise money to spread awareness for melanoma prevention, provide information on skin cancer detection, and educate families regarding the extreme damaging effects of the sun.

Gary Dionne is running to raise funds for the Boston Children's Hospital, and to cross a line off of his bucket lise. 

If you have any words of encouragement to the Amherst residents running the Boston Marathon this year, you can put them in the comments section below.