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Why I'm running
The 108th Boston Marathon — countdown to Monday, April 19, 2004

	Mark Harney Photo by Vernon Doucette

I run the Boston marathon because it keeps me alive.

In October 1998, I was 50 pounds overweight and diagnosed with a brain tumor and type II diabetes. It was a wake-up call. I knew that I had to start taking care of my health and get in shape. I lost 50 pounds, got my blood sugar in normal range, and ran the Boston Marathon in 5:43:31. Most amazing of all, over the course of four years the brain tumor went away. I still have annual MRIs to make sure it hasn't returned, but I'm convinced running saved my life.

Since 1998, I've run six Boston Marathons, entering officially through my fundraising efforts. I have raised $14,500 in total: from 1998 to 2001, I ran for the Greater Boston Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. In April 2003, it was for the Wellness Community in Newton, which supports those with cancer. I will be running this year again for the Arthritis Foundation.

I started running for personal reasons. Now I run with great pride, knowing how much I help people in need. Arthritis is the nation's number one disability, with more than 70 million Americans affected. Seeing the results of my fundraising efforts helps me get out of bed on very cold mornings and gives me the energy to get up the hills.

I plan to keep running the Boston Marathon as long as my body holds up. Maybe one day I'll post a qualifying time and be awarded an official number — which will most likely be when I am 80 (I'm only 43 now). I'm not fast, but I never give up. Even though it takes me five hours to complete the course, I feel like a winner just by finishing.

I've run in over 40 races since 1998, including 12 triathlons and the New York City Marathon. And I've finished every race!

— Mark Harney, assistant director of the Photonics Center

Melissa Connell

Ever since I was young, I have envisioned myself running the Boston Marathon. I ran part of it when I was attending Marian High School in Framingham, but at that time I was focused on track, competing in 200-meter and 400-meter races, the 4x400-meter relay, and the triple jump. I also won three pentathlons competing in the Catholic Central League. In the 1998 New England Championships, I placed fourth in the 200-meter race; in 1999, I was sixth in the 4x400-meter relay.

I continued to compete in Boston College, where I mainly ran the 400-meter and 4x400-relay. I was team captain in 2003.

Now I've decided to run all 26.2 miles in this year's Boston Marathon! I know it will be a great athletic achievement. I feel blessed to have the health to be able to run, and I would love to use this opportunity to bless another life. I am waiting to hear from the Make a Wish Foundation to see if I can sponsor a child for the marathon.

— Melissa Connell, Framingham Heart Study recruiter-interviewer for the third generation of participants

	Rebecca Ryan stretches in snow flurries. Photo by Vernon Doucette

I have been running the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Marathon Challenge for the past four years. I know my efforts are a small step in finding a cure for cancer.

Cancer has affected my family and friends. Both of my grandfathers had cancer, and I have several friends who have lost their mothers to breast cancer. My running teammate's 26-year-old brother has been battling to stay in remission for the past couple of years. Cancer knows no boundaries — not age, sex, or race. It affects everyone we know, at work and at home.

Each year I run, I meet more people who have been treated at Dana-Farber. I realize how desperately we need to find better treatments.

In January, one of my friends suddenly lost her 55-year-old father to cancer; two of my parents' friends were diagnosed with cancer over the holidays.

I think I can speak for some of my teammates when I say this: we hope our efforts result in a cure someday soon. Ultimately, we all want to see a world without cancer. To support my run, send an e-mail to ryanr@bu.edu.

— Rebecca Ryan, lab safety and biosafety officer in the Office of Environmental Health and Safety, Boston Medical Center

Declan De Paor running in 2002. Photo by Bill Archer

I've been running since my recovery from Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1984 — so I'm celebrating 20 years of survival this year! This will be my 13th marathon. I'm fundraising for cancer research and patient support services at New England Medical Center's Neely House.

If anyone wants to support my run, go to http://www.bu.edu/es/Faculty/DePaor/
RunDeclanRun.html or e-mail me at ddepaor@bu.edu.

Frankly, the only exercise I got before 1984 was lifting pints of Guinness. During my treatment, I started to exercise by trying to run around the track oval. I stopped halfway around and spent a few minutes resting before I went back to the changing room. Gradually, I built up to a mile, then entered a road race, and so on. I even got fit enough to start a new research project involving geological fieldwork in the Arctic, at Ellesmere Island. But it took 10 years to work up to my first marathon, in 1994.

This year, in addition to raising money, I am running in honor of three-year-old Lydia Vigneau. She was recently adopted from China by a running friend of mine, a single mother. Lydia was diagnosed with cancer shortly after her adoption.

— Declan De Paor, CAS earth sciences research professor and coordinator of lab and computer resources for the Core Curriculum

12 March 2004
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