North Grafton resident running Boston Marathon® for cancer research

North Grafton resident running for cancer research

Running in the Boston Marathon^® to raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

On April 15, Jennifer Heikkinen from North Grafton will be running in the 117th Boston Marathon^® to help conquer cancer as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. 

Heikkinen, along with more than 550 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world, will run Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston with a goal to raise $4.6 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

One-hundred-percent of the funds raised benefit Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which supports cornerstone science research in its earliest stages, providing researchers with critical resources to test their leading-edge ideas. Findings from Barr program research can provide novel clinical insights as well as the results necessary to seek additional federal funding.

Since its inception in 1990, the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $56 million for the Barr Program. Dana-Farber Trustees J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver founded the Barr Program in 1987 to honor Mrs. Weaver’s mother, Claudia Adams Barr, who lost her battle with cancer in 1957.

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 Jack Fultz, the 1976 Boston Marathon men’s champion, plus team training runs, and volunteer opportunities for non-runners. Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge runners who are not time-qualified for the Boston Marathon receive an invitational entry into the race.

Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team members must meet one of the following fundraising commitments:

• Invitational runners, runners who receive an entry from Dana-Farber have a fundraising commitment of $4,000.
• Own entry runners, runners who have joined the DFMC after obtaining their own race entry have a fundraising commitment of $3,500.

To contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, go online to www.RunDFMC.org or contact the Dana-Farber Running Programs office at (617) 632-1970 or dfmc@dfci.harvard.edu. Follow the DFMC on Facebook: www.facebook/marathonchallenge.

The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge is one of many ways runners can support the lifesaving mission of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.  Participants can run on the official Dana-Farber team in the Boston Marathon, the Falmouth Road Race, and the B.A.A Half Marathon, or run in any race, of any distance, in any city, while raising funds for Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund.  For more information visit RunDanaFarber.org.

About Dana-Farber Cancer Institute:

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. It provides adult cancer care with Brigham and Women’s Hospital as Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center and it provides pediatric care with Children’s Hospital Boston as Dana-Farber/Children’s Hospital Cancer Center. Dana-Farber is the top ranked cancer center in New England, according to U.S. News & World Report, and one of the largest recipients among independent hospitals of National Cancer Institute and National Institutes of Health grant funding.

Follow Dana-Farber on Twitter: @danafarber

Follow Dana-Farber on Facebook: www.facebook.com/danafarbercancerinstitute