Here’s why Marissa Shackleton is running Boston
"I run the Boston Marathon for the patients I work with every day."
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: Marissa Shackleton
Age: 29
From: Boston
Bib #: 25799
I am running my third consecutive Boston Marathon with the Marathon Strides Against Multiple Sclerosis (MSAMS) Team. The team supports the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Just this year, the NMSS funded the MS Prevalence study that confirmed the number of people living with multiple sclerosis in the United States is nearly one million, more than twice the amount estimated previously. This breakthrough research will help us better understand multiple sclerosis and its impact, but, with twice the number of people living with MS, we have double the reasons to push forward in research, education, and awareness.
I run the Boston Marathon for the patients I work with every day. I work as the Executive Director of The Elliot Lewis Center in Wellesley, specializing in the care of patients with multiple sclerosis. I see firsthand how the NMSS supports our patients and staff. I started my career as a Clinical Research Coordinator for multiple sclerosis trials. Thanks to scientists, research coordinators, study participants, physicians, and the NMSS that supports research, the number of approved medications for multiple sclerosis has doubled since I started in the field eight years ago.
Every Saturday morning and Wednesday evening, I train with the MSAMS team. The team runs hard and fundraises harder. Last year every team member finished the marathon (despite the conditions!), and the team raised a total of $235,000. The team is dedicated to creating a world free of multiple sclerosis by raising funds to support the society’s leadership in funding cutting-edge research and treatments to stop progression of the disease, to restore all function lost to MS, and to end multiple sclerosis forever.
Please visit www.nationalmssociety.org to learn more about multiple sclerosis.
Check out our entire “Why I’m Running” series.
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Editor’s note: Entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
