Wakefield's Riley Runs To Beat Cancer, and For Uncle Dan

Stephanie Riley's experience running the Boston Marathon started out routine.

A cross-country and track competitor, first at Wakefield High School and then UMass-Lowell, Riley certainly wasn't the first local runner drawn to the 26.2 miles between Hopkinton and Boston. It was 2011 and Riley just wanted to run Boston. But these days jumping into the race is frowned upon and it wasn't long before Riley and the Joe Andruzzi Foundation became connected.

"I got connected to them by chance during my first marathon. They were looking for a runner and one of my co-workers asked me if I was interested in running for a charity and I had no clue what it was," said Riley. "They were really great people. They were really helpful."

Still, it was routine. Riley ran. The foundation made money. But all that changed when her uncle and Wakefield resident Dan Riley lost his battle to stage 4 glioblastoma last March at the age of 54. She didn't run last year's marathon. But after Dan died there was no question she was running in 2018.

"It's a great day, a very important day," said Riley of the April 16 event. "It means more because I'm running for my uncle. It's my way of honoring him. It's a little extra this year. He was a great supporter of everything I did."

This is Riley's fifth Boston Marathon and third time running for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. She was one of two members that ran on the first team in 2011 and has been working closely with the organization ever since. She hopes for runner-friendly weather on race day, and support from the community for her cause. Riley hopes to raise $10,000 for the Foundation, which uses the money to help cancer patients and their families in need.

Dan's death wasn't the only thing that changed the marathon from routine to anything but. Riley was on Boylston Street in 2013, closing in on what she said would have been a 4:07 finish, when the bombs went off.

"I was lucky enough that I was the first wave and that I saw the second explosion, but I didn't actually see the impact. I turned onto Boylston and I saw the smoke from the first one. I thought it was just an ambulance or a fire truck on fire. I didn't know what it was. It was coming up like something was on fire," said Riley. "Then I saw the second explosion, one big cloud of like dirt almost and stopped. There were three other runners and we all kind of met in the middle with two cops and they said 'you guys are the first ones who aren't effected by what just happened right there. Make sure nobody passes you. We'll be back.' "

Had she been running faster, she could have been opposite the bombs when they went off. It's the first time in her running life she was happy she didn't run faster.

With that day behind her, she enjoys being part of something bigger through the Joe Andruzzi Foundation. It also makes training in a long New England winter a whole lot easier.

"It does, it really does. I actually just got a donation on Saturday night from a woman whose husband passed away from glioblastoma, thanking me for running and how much it meant to her because she had lost her husband. A donation like that, it hits you. It really hits you."

Training has been going well and the weather, for the most part, has been cooperating. Sometimes though, the aches and pains of training have slowed her down.

"I hurt my hip 10 days ago. That's doing better. It hasn't even been the weather as much as my own injuries. But I'm used to running through anything."

On race day Riley will have plenty of fans on the route to Boston with friends spread out along the course and her family waiting for her at the finish line. Riley will enjoy all the support but has a reminder that it's not about her.

"You're not really supporting me. You're supporting other cancer patients who are battling cancer. I love the ability that when I hear of somebody who is diagnosed with cancer I can refer them to the Andruzzi Foundation knowing that they'll have something else taken off their plate to worry about.

"When you get cancer you're not only paying for the extra medical bills but you're paying for the extras, going to the hotel, the hospital parking, the food while you're there, people are taking time off from work to be there for you. And if you're a kid you have parents who are taking time off from work to be there for you. You're taking on more expenses. You're most likely having less money coming in. And your bills don't go away. This is one of the few foundations that it doesn't matter about your age, it doesn't matter what type of cancer you have, they will help you. That's something that is really awesome."

And a cause worth supporting.