April 16, 2024 Submitted by Colleen Brown
On April 15, Caroline Cook, John Cook, Jeff Deady, Rob Gallagher, Anne Keane, Lynn Reisman, and Kelsey Steeves, ran to defy cancer as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team in the 128th Boston Marathon® presented by Bank of America. Along with more than 500 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world, they will ran Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston to collectively raise more than $7.85 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
This year marked the 35th annual running of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC). One hundred percent of the funds raised by the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team benefit Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which enables promising science research in its earliest stages. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $122 million for the program to date.
In 1990, Dana-Farber was among the first charity organizations to be recognized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A), which organizes the Boston Marathon. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team offers its members extensive fundraising support, training guidance from 1976 Boston Marathon Men’s Open Division Champion Jack Fultz, and team training runs. Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge runners who are not time-qualified for the Boston Marathon receive an invitational entry into the race.
Runners include cancer survivors and patients, and family and friends of those who have been affected by cancer. Each team member must fulfill a basic fundraising commitment:
Invitational runners – runners who receive their entry from Dana-Farber have a minimum fundraising commitment of $10,000.
Own entry runners - runners who have joined the DFMC team after obtaining their own race entry have a fundraising commitment of $4,000.
To contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, visit RunDFMC.org or contact the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge office at (617) 632-1970 or dfmc@dfci.harvard.edu. Follow DFMC on Facebook: www.facebook/marathonchallenge.