For Kim Riordan, Boston will be her 6th World Marathon Major. She’s run them all for her mom.
"I knew in November 2014 that I wanted to finish this feat in Boston, as my mom grew up in the suburbs and it would be the ultimate tribute to her."
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 on April 15, 2019.
Name: Kim Riordan
Age: 36
From: New York City
Bib #: 25277
Six years ago, I came across an old email from my mother asking if anyone wanted to run the NYC marathon. At the time she worked for ING and had corporate spots. We all responded we weren’t crazy enough to do that. She passed away from cancer in 2007, and I’d been grappling with her loss for the past seven years.
I ran the NYC marathon in 2014 with the American Cancer Society as my first race ever! It was supposed to be a one-and-done thing. (Prior to training for my first marathon I had never run more than two consecutive miles.) Immediately after crossing the finish line I decided I was going to run one marathon a year for the next six years to complete all six World Major Marathons (currently only 4,260 people in the entire world have completed this challenge) while making my miles more meaningful by continuing to fight cancer.
I knew in November 2014 that I wanted to finish this feat in Boston, as my mom grew up in the suburbs and it would be the ultimate tribute to her. During the 2015 season, while training for Chicago, my ACS coach told me about Dana-Farber and I vowed to only run the Boston Marathon if I got a spot with them. Not an easy feat as I only wanted to run in 2019: NYC 2014, Chicago 2015, Berlin 2016, London 2017, Tokyo 2018, and… Boston 2019.
This year I am running in memory of mom and so honored to be able make a difference in people’s lives so that less people have to hear the words you have cancer and there is nothing we can do! One hundred percent of money raised by Dana-Farber’s marathon team goes toward research and lifesaving new clinical trials.
Check out our entire “Why I’m Running” series.
___
Editor’s note: Entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
