Neighbor News
Three Run 2018 Boston Marathon for MGH Institute
Two alumni and a student slogged through the wind and rain to support the Boston graduate school.
(L-R) Meredith Garey Anand, DPT '04, Elizabeth "Libby" Lee, CSD '19, and Kristin Cunningham, DPT '17 had their rain gear on as they prepared to run the 2018 Boston Marathon for the MGH Institute.
Marathon Monday came with gale-force winds and cold, driving rain, but that didn’t prevent the members of Team IHP from completing the 2018 Boston Marathon on April 16 to support MGH Institute of Health Professions.
In doing so, two alumni – Meredith Garey Anand, DPT '04, and Kristin Cunningham, DPT '17 – and student Elizabeth "Libby" Lee, CSD '19, raised more than $15,000 to support the Boston health sciences graduate school in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
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Anand completed the race in 3:39:40 running for the Institute’s new Leslie Portney Fund for Interprofessional Leadership. She currently works in home health care physical therapy and most recently pursued a comprehensive Pilates certification through Balanced Body Pilates. In addition to work, she spends a good amount of time volunteering in her children’s (ages 10, 8, and 3) schools, including serving as head coach of Girls on the Run at the local elementary school.
Lee ran to support the IMPACT Practice Center and finished in 4:57:36. The North Carolina native began running road races with her father after his diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2011. They have completed four Thanksgiving turkey trots, three 10-milers, and one half-marathon together. Lee enrolled in the school's highly-ranked speech-language pathology program after seeing the positive effect that SLPs had on her father and family. Since enrolling at the MGH Institute, she has been particularly impressed with the quality of care provided to community members at the IMPACT Practice Center.
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Cunningham, a physical therapist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in the outpatient main campus clinic, also ran to support the IMPACT Practice Center, finishing in 4:03:36. She moved to Boston from upstate New York to attend the MGH Institute, and the 2017 graduate knows firsthand how beneficial the center is to not only students who are gaining hands-on experience, but also to those from the Charlestown community and beyond who utilize its services.
Donations will continue to be accepted through June 30.