Alex Baker is running Boston for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

"I decided to become a charity marathon runner for cancer-related charities to fund research so that cancer doesn’t completely consume people’s lives."

Alex Baker is running the 2024 Boston Marathon.

April 4, 2024

1 minute to read

In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon runners share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston.

Name: Alex Baker
Age: 39
From: Brownsburg, Ind.

I am a 39-year-old widower with a 9-year-old son. In October 2017, my wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 colorectal cancer. Over the next 16 months, she went through 25 rounds of chemo, 50 rounds of radiation, four different treatment centers, clinical trials and more before she ultimately passed in February 2019 – five years ago. The whole experience shook me to my core. As you can imagine, losing your wife of ten years and having to tell your then 4-year-old son that his mom died was a terrible moment. It caused me to re-evaluate a lot of things in my life.

I decided it was time to make a change. See, I’ve struggled with my weight for most of my adult life. In June 2019, I joined a gym and started working with a strength trainer. Then in July 2020, I joined a 500-mile challenge. After walking 500 intentional miles in 102 days, I thought maybe I can run. I signed up for a 100-mile run challenge and completed that over the course of a month. And since then, I haven’t stopped. I’ve logged more than 3,000 miles.

Along the way, I realized something. I realized I could make a difference in other people’s lives. Because no family should ever have to go through what we went through. I decided to become a charity marathon runner for cancer-related charities to fund research so that cancer doesn’t completely consume people’s lives.

Now, this April, I’m running the 128th Boston Marathon. To do that, I am fundraising $10,000 for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute — an amazing research institute to help fund groundbreaking research from bright new scientists to find creative approaches to improving patient care and hopefully defeating cancer.

Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.