Jamie Tighe is running in memory of two Hopedale friends

"They didn’t even know that connection I had when I met Dan at Mike’s wake. We all felt it was fate."

Jamie Tighe is running for Mike Weaver, a friend killed by a cardiac arrest while out for a run, and for Dan Hollis, an Emerson student who was killed in an accident last year.

By Madelaine Millar

March 2, 2020

2 minutes 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. If you’re running the marathon, you can share your #WhyImRunningBoston story here.

Name: Jamie Tighe
Age: 48
From: Franklin, Massachusetts

Jamie Tighe is running for Mike Weaver, a friend killed by a cardiac arrest while out for a run, and for Dan Hollis, an Emerson student who was killed in an accident last year.

2020 will be my fourth Boston Marathon. I ran 2011, 2013 (I was stopped at mile 21.74 when the bombs went off), and 2014. I ran each of those for Dana-Farber. I swore 2014 would be my last marathon, but then in October 2019, my UMass Amherst sorority sister Jen Kelly’s 19-year-old son, Hopedale resident Dan Hollis, was killed in an accident near Emerson College. I had met Dan only once, while waiting in line at the wake of Mike Weaver, another Hopedale resident who died suddenly and tragically of a cardiac arrest at age 44 while out on a run. I am good friends with Mike’s widow, Mel.

In January of this year, I was approached by Jen Kelly and Mel Weaver, both good friends through their lives as Hopedale residents. Mike was Dan’s coach and they were very close — Dan even had Mike’s initials and date of death on every hockey and lacrosse helmet he used from Mike’s death until Dan’s passing.

Jen and Mel had secured a number for someone to run the Boston Marathon in memory of both Dan and Mike, and since I have that connection to both families and I was the only friend they knew who had run marathons before, they asked if I would run. At that point, they didn’t even know that connection I had when I met Dan at Mike’s wake. We all felt it was fate.

I am raising money for the Daniel J. Hollis Foundation, Inc., which provides opportunities for young people to cultivate curiosity, support healthy competition, and develop meaningful connections. The money will also go towards the establishment of the DJH Outstanding Teammate Award and Scholarship for a graduating senior of Hopedale High School. I am also raising money for the Mike Weaver Helping Friends Forever Foundation, Inc., which honors the memory of an amazing father, husband, brother, friend, and coach. The foundation provides life-saving AED machines to non-profits and families in need. The money raised (through the Mike Weaver Helping Friends Forever Foundation) will be split evenly between the two.

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