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.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Tired

Running and training the last 2 weeks has been a bit draining.  It could be for any number of reasons - training in general, training with an infant or just a bit of a down time.  I'm sure a contributing factor is also Chris's passing on Jan 8th.  Though we knew this was the eventual outcome of his cancer, I was still saddened to learn of his passing.  Chris's memorial was a nice celebration of his life and captured his impact and love for his family, friends, and colleagues.  The chapel was full and seeing 100s of people there to remember and celebrate Chris's life was inspiring.  It was a good reminder of why I'm running for Dana-Farber for a 7th time and how much work remains to provide therapies for everyone battling a cancer diagnosis.

Since the memorial, training continues to pick up. Though I'm not necessarily aiming to run my fastest Boston marathon, I am trying to train to allow me to go for it, if the weather cooperates.  Speed workouts, tempo runs, and long training runs (15+ miles this past weekend) are definitely more tiring than in past years thanks to less sleep with an infant. However, as multiple people recounted at the memorial, Chris approached life with perseverance and commitment. Blowing off training and being ill-prepared for the marathon would not be a good idea regardless and would not be the way Chris approached such an endeavor, so I'm out there pushing through and achieving my weekly training goals.

Speaking of goals, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has supported this years efforts.  We have raised over $10,000 this year already and are within my next goal - $13,100, or $500 per mile of the marathon!  Thank you everyone for your support which continues to motivate me throughout training.

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