City Woman to Run B.A.A. Half Marathon to Fight Cancer

Sophie Ludi is looking forward to running her third B.A.A. Half Marathon as a member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Instititute team on Oct. 7.

The Portsmouth woman believes that by running the 13.2-mile course that stretches from Boston's Franklin Park Zoo to Fenway Park and back, she is doing her part to raise awareness about the need to help Dana Farber raise money to find a cure for the deadly disease.

While she has not had any of her family members directly affected by cancer, she has some friends who have lost loved ones and she runs to support them and others.

The 27-year-old Ludi works as a trainer and office manager at CrossFit in Portsmouth. She grew up in Sherburne, Mass., and attended the University of New Hampshire in Durham and decided to stay in Portsmouth following graduation.

“This is my third year doing the Dana Farber one and it is the one race that I enjoy doing each year.”

Ludi said her dad, Hans Ludi, encouraged her to run in the annual race sponsored by Dana Farber and Jimmy Fund. “My father has been running marathon with Dana Farber for a long time and he kind of got me into it.”

Ludi said she is one of 500 team members who will run for Dana Farber and they raise a great deal of money each year for cancer research. Each member is required to raise a $500 minimum to quality for the race.

Collectively Dana Farber runners have raised more than $3 million over the course of the 12-year event to fight cancer, according to Cathleen Genova, a Dana-Farber Cancer Institute spokesperson. To support Ludi or any runner in the B.A.A. Half Marathon, go to www.RunDanaFarber.org/BAAHalf.

“Each year, our Dana-Farber runners take part in the B.A.A. Half Marathon not only for the personal, physical challenge, but because they know they are making a difference by raising crucial funds to support the global fight against cancer,” says Jack Fultz, Dana-Farber’s training advisor and 1976 Boston Marathon men’s champion.

Ludi said Tuesday afternoon the course is very challenging with lots of tough hills. But when she sees the thousands of people who line the streets of Boston cheering all of the runners on, she finds the stamina she needs to complete the race.

The 13.1-mile rolling course is an out-and-back loop that runs along the Emerald Necklace park system. It will begin and end in White Stadium in Boston’s Franklin Park, according to Genova. She added the event attracts a field of 7,000 runners, including world-class athletes.

Ludi is very confident she will run a good race on Oct. 7. She does CrossFit to get in shape as far as her training goes and he runs eight to 10-miles two or three times per week to be able to run an event like that.

“I think I am in the best shape that I’ve been in” heading into this race, she said. Ludi said she finished the event in 2011 with a time of 1 hour and 52 minutes and finished the 2010 race with a time of 1 hour and 56 minutes.

Just raising awareness about the need to raise money to help Dana-Farber do more research to one day find a cure for cancer makes every mile worth it, Ludi said. “It feels good to do something, especially for Dana Farber.”