Five Somerville Residents Who Are Running the Boston Marathon

There's about a month to go before April 16 and the Boston Marathon. A few weeks ago, to let us know if they're taking on the big challenge.

As important, we asked if they're raising money for charity. Over 30 charities are affiliated with the Boston Marathon, and race sponsors also participate in funraising efforts. A number of marathoners participate in the race by promising to raise at least $4000 for their chosen charity.

Here's what five Somervillian runners said about their efforts.

If you're running the Marathon on April 16, let us know in the comments section below, and don't forget to include a link to your fundraising page.

Somerville runners

• Lynda Banzi wrote: "I am a Somerville resident, a member of the Somerville Road Runners, and am running the Boston Marathon for Dana-Farber. This link is a short video about why I'm running:http://youtu.be/o0jq5Kkjq3E. My fundraising page is here:http://www.runDFMC.org/2012/lyndab I appreciate your support!"
• Katie Dadarria wrote: "I am a Somerville resident living in Davis, and I am running for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I'm running in honor of one of my best friends, whose mother is living with MS. My fundraising page is at http://marathon.kdadarria.com. Thanks so much for the support!"
• Dave Athey wrote: "I live in Somerville's Union Square and I'm running the marathon to support the American Liver Foundation. More than 25 million people are affected by liver disease, and the foundation is an important advocate for education and research. http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/daveathey"
• Stephen Cronin emailed: "Thanks for putting this out there. My daughter, Julie is running for the Children's Hospital Marathon Team. Good luck to Lynda and Katie. I will be in Copley Square on Patriots' Day." Her fundraising page can be found here.
• Rebecca Schrumm emailed: "I am running the Boston Marathon to raise funds for Housing Families, Inc. (Malden)." This seems to be her fundraising page.