Portsmouth Woman to Run in First Boston Marathon

Andrea Ardito was 26 and pregnant with her first child when her family learned that her mother, Barbara, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Six weeks later her mother lost her battle with the deadly disease.

Fast forward 15 years later and Ardito is just three days away from running in her first Boston Marathon to pay tribute to her mom and to help raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

As of Wednesday night, Ardito said she had raised more than $9,000 and the support she has received from so many people from where she grew up on Cape Cod and the Portsmouth area has inspired her to finish the 26.2-mile race.

Ardito said her mother was treated at Dana-Farber and the medical staff there did everything they could to help her, which is why she decided to raise money for the cancer institute. She also sees running in the Boston Marathon as a way "that would make a difference" to help others.

When she crosses the finish line on Monday, Ardito said it will also give her a feeling that she was able "to take back some of the power that cancer took away from my family."

"I'm very excited. I'm very nervous. Being 40, I'm definitely feeling the difference," said Ardito, who works as a writer, Reiki instructor and drama teacher.

Since September, Ardito has been training by running anywhere from 13- to 20 miles at a time to get ready for Monday. "I have been doing lots of running, ridiculous amounts of running," she said.

"I trained all winter and I think my mom had something to do with the mild winter we had," Ardito said. "It was a definite gift."

Ardito said her number one goal is to finish the race without getting too emotionally overwhelmed when she runs through the community where her mother grew up or runs past the college her mom attended.

"I'm definitely going to do it. There is nothing that's going to stop me from doing it," Ardito said. "I will get across the finish line."

Ardito said her three children, Olivia, 14, Henry, 7, Isabel, 10, and her husband, Brad Lebo, will be in Boston along with the rest of her family and friends at different points in the race route to cheer her on. Ardito said she has also made friends with two other Portsmouth women who are running as part of the Dana-Farber team: Kim McKee and Kerri Neel.

"I can't imagine a better experience," said Ardito about running in her first Boston Marathon, "and I haven't even done it yet."

If you would like to contribute to Andrea Ardito's run in the Boston Marathon to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute medical research, please visit http://www.runDFMC.org/2012/andreaa