Running in the Boston Marathon for the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund
- Wanjiru Waweru
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Wanjiru Waweru, Jadetimes Contributor
W. Waweru is a Jadetimes News Reporter Covering America News
Worcester, Massachusetts – The 129th Boston Marathon would not be on John Kelly’s first rodeo.
“This will be my second Boston,” said Kelly. “I ran Boston last year as well for the ALS fund. I’ve run probably, I don’t know, 20 plus marathons.”
Kelly reported that he has competed in hundreds of endurance events, from marathons to Iron Man challenges, and he has always stepped out of his comfort zone to challenge himself. He is currently running a battle with ALS, which has become very personal to him.
“Now I’m running for all for folks out there that have ALS, particularly my brother-in-law, Peter, who’s from Needham,” said Kelly. “He was diagnosed in January 2024 with ALS, and it’s a devastating disease that is very impactful to him and his family.”
Additionally, Kelly has another close friend who’s thousands of people fighting ALS. In a previous year, he raised over $10,000 and this year he is willing for $20,000 to support the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund at UMass Chan Medical School.
“Well, the Cellucci Fund is part of a UMass. Dr. Brown is the head physician there that leads it and they do a lot of great work for their patients," said Kelly. "They're world renowned. They're partnered closely with the Mass General ALS clinic and they work closely on the research.”
Kelly is looking forward to his second Boston Marathon, explaining in a previous year as “unavailable”.
“It's as close as being a professional athlete as you're going to get if you're not a professional athlete," said Kelly. "You know, starting at the starting line in Hopkinton, there are crowds two, three, four people thick along the entire course of the marathon that are cheering you on, yelling for you.”
From Hopkinson to Boylston Street, Kelly reported it is 26.2 miles of help from spectators. And for him, it’s about providing help and aiming for a major cause that is part of his life.
“There's a lot of people out there that are running for important causes like ALS, but mine is for Peter and the rest of the folks are out there dealing with ALS," said Kelly, "for them and their family and their kids that they're not alone.”
