Holy Cross Community Members Ready to Race the 120th Boston Marathon

Today, Holy Cross students, staff, and alumni are off and running the 120th Boston Marathon. Many runners have raised funds for organizations they feel deeply connected to, exemplifying the Holy Cross commitment to being men and women for and with others.

Hannah Dinardo ’17 is running in memory of her cousin, Molly, who passed away during the fall of 2009 from pediatric glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. Dinardo says that glioblastomas are both rare and terminal, and there is currently no known cure for them.

“I will be joining the Dana Farber Marathon team this spring and we're headed toward the ultimate finish line: a world without cancer,” said Dinardo, a sociology major from Weston, Mass. “Molly’s and her parents’ struggle and fight through that heartbreaking time has inspired me to run 26.2 miles and reach the Boylston Street finish.”

Megan Fox-Kelly ‘99, associate chaplain and director of retreats at Holy Cross, will run the race to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. She is also running for one of her sons, Kieran, who copes with severe bi-lateral clubfoot. While announcing she was going to run in the 2016 Boston Marathon, Fox-Kelly said Kieran, who is in second grade, has endured wearing full leg casts as an infant, as well as four years of bracing and surgery to treat his condition.

Fox-Kelly said she and Kieran wanted to give back to the doctors who helped him at Boston Children’s Hospital. This sparked the idea to join the Miles for Miracles team, a fundraising team that supports Boston Children’s Hospital, and drove her to surpass her $5,000 fundraising goal. “Without their amazing care, Kieran could not dream of running the marathon himself someday,” Fox-Kelly said.

Mary Kate Shea ’84, P13 is in charge of the Boston Marathon’s elite international team, which recruits and sponsors 30 to 40 runners from around the world. In a recent article from the Boston Globe, Shea said she makes sure her runners have a memorable, world-class experience from the moment their planes touch down at Logan Airport.

As soon as the runners are taken care of, Shea said, she gets ready to run alongside them. “I’ve been running since the seventh grade,” she told Boston Globe. “I ran three seasons for four years at Holy Cross. It’s really part of who I am. This year, I’ll run the Boston Marathon for the twentieth time.”

Good luck to all participants in the Holy Cross community including:

Mary Beth (Ryan) Cashman ’05 Hannah Dinardo ’17 Ryan Graf ’06 Courtney Graham ’10 Sam Hallowell ’09 Rich Horgan ’76 Megan Fox-Kelly ’99 Dr. Jason Lachance ’96 Maggie McGoldrick ’13 Tim McQuade ’03 Sheila Monaghan ’04 Meg Reilly ‘05 Mary Kate Shea '84 P13 Patrick J. Sheehan ’93 Rich Houston '78 P14 Amy Lussier '08 Tim Hoppe '03

Are you running the Boston Marathon? Share your pictures with us on Instagram, @collegeoftheholy cross and Twitter, @holy_cross.