Zach Gorman is running his first Boston Marathon with his father, who’s running his 32nd

"I made a deal with him; if I ran Boston in 2020, he would lace them up for another year and run with me."

Zach Gorman is running his first Boston Marathon with his father, who is running his 32nd. He is raising money for One Mission, which supports children battling cancer. Zach Gorman

By Madelaine Millar

March 2, 2020

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

Name: Zach Gorman
Age: 27
From: Somerville, Massachusetts

I decided to run the 2020 Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019. At the time I was out in Western Mass working on a client and missed my dad running his 31st Boston. I grew up going to see him run every year with my mom and my brother. We would always line up around Mile 16 in Newton and wait to cheer him and the other runners on as they went by. It’s a day I looked forward to every year. As I was unable to take work off and see him, I gave him a call after the race to congratulate him and check in to see how he was feeling. He was bummed about his time and told me at his age, it might be time to hang up his running shoes. I made a deal with him; if I ran Boston in 2020, he would lace them up for another year and run with me. It was a deal he couldn’t say no to.

Having never run anything even close to a marathon before and therefore not being able to qualify for Boston, I researched several charities that I could raise money for and came across One Mission, which is a charity that does whatever it takes to get kids through cancer. As my family has a long history of battling cancer, including my dad, this one hit home to me. I was ecstatic and nervous when One Mission accepted me. It meant that I’d be helping kids and families who really needed it, but it also meant I had to put my money where my mouth was and live up to the promise that I made with my dad.