On your mark… Get set…
The City of Medford will be well represented as they take to the streets in the 121st running of the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 17.
The 26.2-mile trek shouldn’t be too daunting for more than a few locals. Medford has 84 participants entering this year’s race.
The local contingent ranges in age from grizzled veterans Frank Mastrocola, 63, and Lisa Fleming, 58, to a pair of teenagers in Megan Kuhnle and Adam Meyer, both 19.
Last year’s top Medford runner, Ryan Silva, 33, will look to defend his title, but will have to outrun some stellar opposition in Eric Peloquin, 35 Thomas Boland, 33, and Timothy Connelly, 34. Seasoned veterans Joe O’Leary, 49 and Michael Pulli , 40, should also be among the ones to watch in a crowded men’s field.
Meanwhile, Molly Sords appears to be the heavy-favorite to lead the Medford ladies from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, Marathon Monday.
Running for Housing Partnership Team
Jesse Edsell-Vetter will be among those Medford marathoners running for a reason this year.
The 41-year-old runner will be making his eighth trek for the Boston-based nonprofit Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership’s Marathon team. The organization raises money for the charity and individual families they serve. MBHP has had a team of volunteers running in the Boston Marathon for the past 11 years.
Edsell-Vetter is looking to break the record for personal fundraising this year. His goal is $13,000, well above the required $6,000 for each runner.
Since he began working at MBHP in 2004, Jesse has become something of a legend at the housing nonprofit. He launched the organization’s Hoarding Intervention program, which has helped more than 250 people in danger of eviction due to hoarding activity remain safely in their homes. Jesse now heads up MBHP’s newly formed Center for Hoarding Intervention.
For more information, visit www.mbhp.org, facebook.com/MBHPHome, or follow MBHP on Twitter at @MBHPhousing.
Representing MassGeneral Children’s Pediatric Cancer Team
Meanwhile, three Medford residents will run in support of MassGeneral Hospital for Children’s Pediatric Cancer Team, Fighting Kids’ Cancer … One Step at a Time.
Jessica Kuhle, Meg O’Donnell and Michael Piccioli will be logging the miles for this great cause.
Kuhle, a Tufts University student study community health, has seen the impact MGH has made on the local community through the Tufts curriculum and hopes to further those endeavors through her fundraising.
O’Donnell, a NBC Boston news writer, mirrors Kuhle’s sentiments in funding research and quality of life activities, art and music therapy and child life programming, for pediatric patients undergoing treatment.
MGH pediatric resident, Piccioli has firsthand experience caring for children and their families in the hospital setting. Last year, Piccioli developed a special bond with a pediatric cancer patient, who unfortunately died. Picciolo will run in the team’s memory.
The power trio will join an estimated 30,000 runners along the 26.2 mile course that spans from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in Boston. Funds raised by the Medford residents will support cutting-edge research and quality of life programming, such as child life services and art and music therapy, which help pediatric cancer patients and their families cope emotionally and developmentally with their illnesses.
The team, made up of 102 runners, including former patients and parents, MGH employees and hospital supporters, has set a fundraising goal of $1 million.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of John Hancock’s partnership with the Mass General Marathon Program. Since it was formed in 1998, Mass General’s Fighting Kids’ Cancer…One Step at a Time has raised more than $12 million that directly support the pediatric hematology-oncology program.
“I have a unique perspective into the lives of children undergoing live saving therapy at MGHfC,” says Howard Weinstein, MD, chief of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at MGHfC and 17-year captain of the pediatric team. “Since the team’s inception, I’ve seen our runners get physically and emotionally involved in our mission to conquer childhood cancer. They go the extra mile and their support is vital to our continued holistic approach to cancer care.′
To learn more about the Fighting Kids’ Cancer…One Step at a Time team or help support a runner from Medford, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/MGHPediatricCancerBoston2017.