Officially Official

I am running the Boston Marathon on April 19.

I keep saying this with the hope that it starts to sound more natural. I’m running the Boston Marathon in April. The marathon. The Boston one.

I’ve begun to share the news. “I’m running Boston next year.” “Mark your calendars. You have plans for Marathon Monday.” “Heartbreak Hill hasn’t met the likes of me yet!”

What makes the journey I am beginning special is that I’m not just going to be training for a marathon. I am about to join a team endeavoring to take on an even bigger challenge than Boston 2010. I am running and training as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team, a group that is working to raise $4.4 million over the course of this process. All of the money raised in the DFMC running of Boston 2010 will go to the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research. I am working to raise $6,500 between now and April.

We’re doing our part, essentially, in helping innovators in cancer research better help and care for those currently battling the disease and ultimately find a cure. I’ve lost loved ones to cancer (my paternal grandfather, Walter Welch, lost his battle when I was a youngster) and have seen the disease affect the lives of far too many others. I feel that running is the best thing I can do to help make sure others aren’t impacted by cancer in the years to come.

Pretty awesome, right?

Anyway, I launched this site as a way of chronicling the journey I’m going to be taking. I’m going to talk about training, fundraising and the highs, lows and quirks of the process. Essentially, I’m bringing you into the process of gearing up for Boston and everything it entails. It’s going to be a lot of work, but a lot of fun.

Please check out the features already included here on the site. More will be rolling out in the coming days, but welcome to the first day of Operation 26.2!