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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.
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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.
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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.