About Me

My Goal: Run the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019 with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge. Raise $17,000 (or more!) where 100% of funds raised benefit the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. I run in honor of my friend Chris Davie who is battling brain cancer. I also run in honor for my friend RJ and his continued cancer-free life, in memory of Heather Thomson, and for other family and friends who are or have battled cancer. Together we can help Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reach the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer

Barr Program Impact Statements

Barr Program Impact Statements

Immunotherapies: New Ways to Activate the Immune System—An important area of cancer research asks why the human body's defense systems do not always attack and destroy tumors as they form. Funded by the Claudia Adams Barr Program, Glenn Dranoff, MD, discovered complex regulatory pathways in the human immune system that cancers exploit in order to escape destruction. Reversal of these effects can lead to the development of vaccines against cancer, like Provenge for prostate cancer. This research has also enabled the development of immune-activating drugs such as ipilimumab, which showed striking effects in melanoma in a trial led by Dana-Farber scientists and is now approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment.

Sunday, April 8, 2018

1 Week to Go...

Yesterday morning was our final DFMC group run.  It was a shorter group run and I was glad for that.  After a season of training and a hard training run on Thursday, I was a bit tired and just looking to get it done.  In the end, I think that was a good thing.  I know that I can't overdo it this week and need to get some rest.  I still plan to run 3 times this week, but they will be a bit easier and a bit less intense.

Having run a number of other marathons, friends often ask what makes Boston difficult.  Well, Active.com published an article on this and it sums up the challenges pretty well.  First, we're still running 26.2 miles and that's always a challenge :) So what does Active.com think are the other challenges:

  1. The Registration Process - lucky for me, DFMC is willing to take me back year after year! If I had to qualify, I would need to run a marathon faster than 3hrs 10min.  Since that's not happening, thank goodness for the charity program!
  2. New England's Fickle Weather - I'll just say, 2012 = 89F temps and full sun, 2015 = low 40s, rain, and a 15-20mph northeast headwind.
  3. The Late Start Time - So true.  My normal training run morning is up at 6.15am, bagel, drive to the group run and running by 8.30am.  Marathon day is more like, up at 5am, catch the T to get downtown, hop on the BAA bus to Hopkinton, arrive ~7.30am, sit around for 3.5hrs and start running at 11.15am.  Such a difference and so hard to prepare for.
  4. The Early Miles - Yup! With 7000 people starting in each wave and a 2 lane road, the start is crowded, and steep.  130 foot drop in the first mile while avoiding other runners, ugh.
  5. The Newtown Hills - People know Heartbreak Hill, but there are actually 4 hills from mile 16-21.  You go up about 200 ft over these 5 miles, which doesn't sound too bad, but that's after dropping 400 feet from the start.
  6. Cemetery Mile - After the hills and chaos of drunk BC students, there's a really quiet section with a cemetery on the right side.  Not what we need at mile 22-23.
Like any marathon, Boston is unique and there are highs and lows.  I'm looking forward to next Monday and making the journey a 6th time.  Having run for RJ that first 5 years, he'll certainly be on my mind throughout the day as will family members, friends and all those I'm running in honor and in memory of.  Of course, running in memory of Heather will be a large part of this year's experience.  I'm sure that I'll think of her throughout the day and know that Heather, RJ and many others will be with all the DFMC runners as we run from Hopkinton to Boston.
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