Boston Marathon runners meet their match

Here's a nice article from Saturday's Boston Herald. It's all the inspiration you'll need to lace up your running shoes and go for a run.

More than 30 runners participating in the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge met up with young, cancer-stricken buddies, who are slated to cheer on the athletes during the race. The occasion was the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s “Meet Your Match” party.

“He reminds me a lot of me when I was kid,” Tyler Hart said of his partner, 7-year-old Ben Raybuck. “He’s very energetic and inquisitive and personable.”

The “patient partners,” all current or former patients of the Jimmy Fund Clinic, met the runners they have been teamed up with at the fete yesterday afternoon. The party was an introduction for new duos, while previous pairings had the chance to rekindle friendships.

The partners will meet at the 25-mile marker to congratulate and motivate the marathon marchers during the 111th Boston Marathon on April 16.

“It makes these long, cold runs much easier,” Hart said. “When I think about not wanting to go out running, I think about Ben having to go for chemo. He really has been an inspiration.”

The Patient Partner Program has been pairing Jimmy Fund kids with athletes since 1992.

Source: Boston Herald 1/27/07