Peabody Police Marathoners Raise More Than $10K For Kids With Cancer

PEABODY, MA —The five-person Peabody P9lice Marathon team raised more than $10,000 for Cops For Kids With Cancer as they covered the 26.2 miles between Hopkinton and Boston on Monday.

According to the fundraising web page of Police Chief Tom Griffin, Sgt. Jim Harkins, firefighters Mike Coleman and Ray Brady, and Mayor Ted Bettencourt, the group raised $10,775 for their collective efforts.

"All tough guys with giant hearts," Bettencourt said. " Together, with the help of a caring and
generous community, we raised tens of thousands of dollars for a wonderful cause. That made the months of torture worth every minute."

While Bettencourt persevered to the finish line officially in 5 hours, 27 minutes, 35 seconds on Monday, he declared the day after the race that his Marathon debut would be his last effort of its kind.

"I formally, and with a heavy heart and sore legs, announce my decision to retire from competitive marathon racing," Bettencourt said in a Facebook post. "I know this may come as a great surprise to many of you since I am just now hitting my prime in marathon racing after finishing in 24,039th place. Additionally, I was a mere 3 hours and 21 minutes behind the winner, Evans Chebet.

"Clearly, the sky was the limit for my future racing efforts."

Bettencourt joked that he made the retirement decision "after an agonizing 10 seconds of internal debate."

"My family and I made the painful decision that it is time for me to focus on my future of coaching T-ball and learning to play the piano," Bettencourt said. "I want to thank legendary Peabody track coach Fernando Braz for helping me train for this torturous endeavor. I am extremely grateful for his advice and support."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)