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At 22, she’s running Boston for her mom — and a future without Alzheimer’s
At 22, Ella Wright is running the Boston Marathon to honor her mom’s dream and raise awareness for early-onset Alzheimer’s.
In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon athletes share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston. Looking for more race day content? Sign up for Boston.com’s pop-up Boston Marathon newsletter.
Name: Ella (Mary Elizabeth) Wright
Age: 22
City: Boston
I am running the Boston Marathon with the Alzheimer’s Association for my mama.
I struggle to think of a time when I did not know what it meant to have Alzheimer’s. At the age of 22, I have lost my grandfather, my great uncle, and my aunt to various forms of Alzheimer’s and dementia. Their battles and absences have shaped me, but none so quietly and persistently as my mom’s diagnosis with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s has.
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My mom was diagnosed in her forties when I was a senior in high school. I do not know if there was ever an age where my brothers and I would’ve been prepared to care for our mom as she has faded, a moment my dad would’ve been prepared to lose his partner, or a day I would’ve been ready to lose my best friend.
In many ways, I feel robbed. I was robbed of being able to call my mom after my first breakup and when I got my dream job. I think about how my future children will be robbed of knowing her, and it breaks my heart. Grieving someone who is still alive is a very strange kind of pain. I can sit with my mom, hold her hand, and sometimes hear her voice, but the woman who raised me feels so out of reach. I miss her.
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My mom went to college in Boston, and it was always a dream of hers to run the Boston Marathon. I am running to advocate for caregivers and spread awareness. To increase funding for research so one day the genetics of my family will not be intertwined with the loss of Alzheimer’s. To support other affected families. Selfishly, I am running this marathon because it was, and maybe still is, a dream of hers.
Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
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