The Boston Marathon is about running for those we’ve lost and those we can help
"It’s the best of us. I’m going to get it done, not for me, but for everybody else.”
Dennis Tupper’s reasons for the running Boston Marathon are achingly personal. And yet in the convivial context of the best day Boston has to offer, they are also eternally universal.
“It’s just the positivity,’’ said Tupper, who is running for the Dana Farber team. “There’s no other day in Boston like it, and I’ve never seen anything like it in another city. Everybody is happy. Everybody is happy to be there and be outside after being cooped up all winter long. Everybody is in awe of what the marathoners do. When you’re in the crowd, you’re really excited for people. And when you’re running, the crowd carries you.”
Tupper, a 41-year-old Rockport native, will be among the 30,000-plus runners in Hopkinton setting off on a 26.2 mile journey Monday morning. And like virtually all of the other participants and competitors, his journey toward the finish line began long before the race. Tupper’s legs will carry the weight of the run, but memories of those he is running for will accompany him the entire distance. His is a unique and yet familiar story of tragedy, hope and resilience.
Tupper runs for his parents, Joyce and Donald, both of whom died of cancer. Donald was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011 and given a year to live. He underwent surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy — anything he could do to prove the diagnosis severely underestimated his resolve. “He benefited from all of the treatments and research and was given four extra years,” said Tupper. “He lived five. He lived to see my kids born.”
In 2014, Dennis Tupper was training to run the marathon (this will be his third) in homage to his father when Joyce was diagnosed with cervical cancer that July. “She passed away that September 1st,” said Dennis. “It had spread to her brain.” Five of Tupper’s family members have died from cancer, as did his father-in-law before he met him. He has first-hand knowledge, far too much, of how much Dana Farber’s cancer research matters to families.
“I wanted to raise money for hope, and research, and to do this to honor people,” said Tupper. “It’s something special, just as this race is something special. I grew up watching it on TV as a kid. I can remember seeing it when I was 5 years old. At Framingham State when I was in college, I remember having beers at nine in the morning and cheering people on. As an adult, I’ve been to the finish line many times to watch it and enjoy the vibe of the day. It’s my relationship with it over different phases of my life, and remembering the people who were there with me, that push me.”
Dana Farber has different Marathon fundraising teams. Tupper is running with the memoriam groups. He is not just running in memory of his own loved ones, but for others as well. In this year’s marathon, he is representing Brian and Liz Langley, who lost a son to cancer at age 9. “It’s an intense relationship in all the good ways, a lot of love,’’ said Tupper, who has two kids of his own. “We’re all out there for a purpose. They’re part of my purpose.”
The training for the Marathon is often done in solitude, especially during the longer runs in the frigid New England winter. “Every time you struggle, whether it’s 20 degrees with 15 mile-per-hour winds always remind yourself why you’re doing it,” said Tupper, who often takes photos and videos of beautiful images he sees on his training runs and posts them on social media. “You really reflect on other people you’re running for. I well up from time to time. You get emotional. It’s a long time to go out by yourself. But it pushes you and reminds you, you’re accountable for the people you’re trying to help.”
There is no solitude on Monday, in all of the good ways. The streets will be lined with onlookers cheering on the runners. And Tupper, who raised nearly $6,000 in donations, will not, by any measure, be running alone. “It’s the best day to be part of the city, the best day to be in the city,’’ he said. “It’s the best of us. I’m going to get it done, not for me, but for everybody else.”
