Local Patriots Day Marathoners to Run for Dana Farber

On April 18, Franklin's own Brock Leiendecker, Stephen Rondeau, and Cherly Solomon are running to defy cancer as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team in the 126th Boston Marathon®. 

The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team will run in-person this year and will also offer the option of running virtually, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Along with more than 500 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge teammates from across the United States and around the world, they will run Massachusetts’ historic marathon route from Hopkinton to Boston to collectively raise $5.5 million for cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

This year marks the 33rd annual running of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC). One hundred percent of the money raised by the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team benefits Dana-Farber’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which supports promising science research in its earliest stages. The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge has raised more than $105 million for the Barr Program to date.

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 1976 Boston Marathon Men’s Open Division Champion Jack Fultz, and team training runs.

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 runners include cancer survivors and patients, and family and friends of those who have been affected by cancer. Each team member must fulfill a basic fundraising commitment: • Invitational runners - runners who receive their entry from Dana-Farber have a fundraising commitment of $7,500. • Own entry runners -- runners who have joined the DFMC after obtaining their own race entry have a fundraising commitment of $4,000. • Virtual runners - runners participating virtually have a fundraising commitment of $4,000. To contribute to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge, visit RunDFMC.org or contact the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge office at (617) 632-1970 or dfmc@dfci.harvard.edu.