East Longmeadow resident runs in Falmouth Road Race supporting Dana-Farber

Aug. 24, 2017 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

Kathleen Hanifan poses with her stepfather, William Mailman, after completing the 45th Annual Falmouth Road Race on Sunday.
Reminder Publications submitted photo.

EAST LONGMEADOW – This past weekend in Falmouth the town’s 45th Annual Road Race commenced, welcoming an estimated 75,000 spectators and 12,800 official race entrants this year alone, according to the race’s website.

While the race’s itself is nonprofit, some runners choose to raise money on their own or with a team to donate to various organizations.  One East Longmeadow native ran on Aug. 20 on Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s team.

Kathleen Hanifan decided to join Dana-Farber’s team of over 300 members in honor of her stepfather who was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in May of 2016.

“After undergoing six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation last summer, he endured a nine-hour surgery in September where the tumor was successfully removed along with two thirds of his esophagus,” Hanifan said.

Though Hanifan’s stepdad’s tumor was removed, a following lymph node biopsy came back positive for cancerous cells.  Immediately, his oncologist researched clinical trials, which led to his start of immunotherapy at Dana-Farber in December of 2016.  The trial will be complete at the close of 2017.

“My stepdad is beating this battle with his positive attitude and endless love and support from our family and friends,” Hanifan said.

Hanifan joined Dana-Farber’s team with a goal of raising $1,500 and raised over $2,000 for the cause. This was Dana-Farber’s 15th year participating in the Falmouth Road Race. Additionally, the race has raised nearly $5 million since its start, according to information provided by Dana-Farber.  To learn more about running for Dana-Farber, go to www.rundanafarber.org/Falmouth.

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