March 26, 2024 By Carol Britton Meyer
Hingham resident Anne Keane, who has been undergoing breast cancer treatment for the past several years, has turned the biggest challenge of her life into an opportunity to raise funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by running in the Boston Marathon.
On April 15, she will participate in the 26.2-mile event with the goal of raising $43,000 — which would put her at the $100,000 mark after raising $57,000 in the 2021 and 2023 marathons as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge group.
One hundred percent of the funds raised goes directly to innovative cancer research.
“When I think of my own journey, I would not be here today to see my daughter enter elementary school and join the swim team without cancer research,” Keane told the Hingham Anchor. “The treatment plan I am on now was once a clinical trial, and I would like other patients to also have an opportunity for improved quality of life. Hopefully, a cure will be found someday, and research can help make this possible.”
Keane hasn’t always been a runner. She was active in swimming and water polo in college and was a personal trainer for eight years before changing her career path and earning a master’s degree in business.
In June of 2016, she was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer, just over a year after her daughter, Ruby, was born. Fast forward four years later, she felt well enough to take up distance running, despite still being in active treatment.
“This was an extremely challenging time in my life, but fortunately the treatment plan was working for me and I began running with a friend and logging miles during the pandemic,” Keane said. “During one of our runs, the question came to mind, “‘Maybe we could run in the Boston Marathon.'”
Keane’s oncologist supported the idea and talked with the Dana-Farmer Marathon Challenge team. As a result, she ran in the 2021 event as part of that group.
“My friend and fellow Hingham neighbor Lynn Reisman will run with the Dana-Farber team this year,” she said.
Keane wakes up grateful every day. “I feel so fortunate that I can move, take my daughter to school and coach her swim team once a week, and that I am able to sit at a desk and work — things that people oftentimes take for granted,” she said. “I am so lucky — I don’t feel that I HAVE to run in the Boston Marathon but am so fortunate that I GET to run in it.”
To make a donation for Keane’s run, go to https://danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR?px=1080733&fr_id=2100&pg=personal