Nearly 150 residents gearing up for Jimmy Fund Walk

Members of Team Tara gather for a photo at the finish line in 2017.

Nearly 150 Canton residents will lace up their sneakers and walk up to 26.2 miles along the Boston Marathon course this coming Sunday, September 23, as they raise money in the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, presented by Hyundai. The walkers are part of a group of 9,500 people expected to take part in the event, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

Tara Shuman walked the course for the first time in 2013, after being diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer and undergoing surgery and then treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Shuman had heard about the Walk through a friend. Shuman and her son, Teddy, who was 5 years old at the time, walked together that year. “I just fell in love with it,” she said. The mother and son team raised $366.20 that year.

“We expanded from there,” Shuman said. In 2014, the 107 members of Team Tara raised $79,600. Both the size of the team and the monies raised continued to increase each year, and by the conclusion of the 2017 walk, Team Tara had surpassed the half million mark ($523,886 to be exact) — an astonishing figure that vaulted them to the top of the fundraising leaderboard.

Team Tara has designated that the funds that they raise go to fund the research that Dr. Kimmie Ng does on patients who have pancreatic cancer and gastrointestinal cancers. “She is basically building a laboratory of mice with the tumors from the cells of individual patients,” Shuman said.

For those patients, time is of the essence in finding medications that will halt their cancers. “Within a couple of weeks, they can determine if the medication is working.”

As of September 5, Team Tara co-captains Shuman and Amy Killeen along with 300 team members had raised $178,731.31 toward their goal of $200,000. They are once again the largest and highest performing fundraising team for this year’s walk.

Also leading a team at the 2018 walk is Canton resident Sara Marshall, who started Team Seanie Strong in memory of her late son, Sean Marshall. The team currently has 35 members and has raised nearly $11,000 to date.

Another Canton resident, Amy Ennis, is a Walk Hero and will help to inspire walkers along the course. Walkers are greeted by poster-sized photographs of Walk Heroes displayed at each mile and half mile along the Boston Marathon course. Ennis was diagnosed with colon cancer which metastasized to her lungs and is being treated at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Walk Heroes are matched with Jimmy Fund Walk teams to give participants an opportunity to connect with patients. Ennis is matched with Team BCB: Beat Cancer’s Butt, led by Canton resident Erica Feick. She is also captain of her own team, BushyStrong, which raises funds for the Colorectal Cancer Department at Dana Farber.

Other Canton walkers in 2018 include Kathy Butters, Griffin Lincoln, James Maltz, Henry Waggett, Patrick Waggett, Annabel Shuman, and 138 others.

“It’s just for me about being part of something bigger than myself, setting a goal,” Shuman said. “It’s a chance for more time, a chance for a cure.”

Walkers can choose from four routes along the historic Boston Marathon course: the Marathon Walk (26.2 miles from Hopkinton); the Half Marathon Walk (13.1 miles from Wellesley); the 10K Walk (6.2 miles from Newton); and the 5K Walk (3.1 miles from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area), which includes many patients and their families.

All routes conclude at the Copley Square Finish Line where participants can celebrate with food, live entertainment, and a speaking program. All walkers must raise a minimum of $325, except for walkers ages 12 and younger whose fundraising minimum is $125. Pacesetters are extraordinary fundraisers who raise $1,500 or more, or $500 or more for those 12 and younger. There is also a “Virtual Walker” option for those unable to attend the event.

To register for the Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai (#JimmyFundWalk), to support a walker, or to volunteer, visit www.JimmyFundWalk.org, or call 866-531-9255. Registrants can enter the promo code NEWS for $5 off the registration fee.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Sep 21 2018. Filed under News. Both comments and pings are currently closed.