Meet the Sportsmen’s 2026 Marathon Team

Cate Grosskopf

I’m so excited to raise money and run the 130th Boston Marathon for Team Sportsmen’s!

Sportsmen’s Tennis & Enrichment Center is a wonderful organization that helps youth in Boston achieve their dreams through tennis and education. By contributing to my campaign, you’ll be helping provide top-notch tennis instruction and enriching programs that support both academic and personal growth. Every dollar counts and will go directly to creating opportunities for young athletes who aspire to excel on and off the court.

Thank you for your support!!

Jed Hammel

A doctor told my parents when I was one year old that I’d never be able to walk, and now I’m running the Boston Marathon.

That sort of thought never crossed my mind as I was crossing the finish line running my first marathon in 2024, called “26.True”, which happened to be the best day of my life. 26.True is a marathon through the neighborhoods of Boston, including Dorchester/Mattapan (and right past Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center).

It didn’t cross my mind this summer when I came in 2nd place in my age group in three local 5k races: the Dorchester Day 5k, the AAPI 5k, and the Mattapan Unity Fete 5k.

I don’t think about it or talk about it much at all, but I was born with cerebral palsy. So that doctor’s prediction, and proving them wrong my entire life, has been a big part of shaping who I am as a human.

What did cross my mind was how grateful I was to have so many friends from the Boston/Dorchester running community and from the area in general show their support at each race.

My first memories as a child are of living in Dorchester, and for a majority of my life I’ve been involved in one way or another with the tennis community.

Though I grew up mainly in Sudbury, MA, (where I played Varsity tennis at Lincoln-Sudbury), thanks to my involvement in a Dorchester-based running group, called the Pioneers Run Crew, I run through different areas of Dorchester and Mattapan nightly each week.

I also run in the Metrowest area with a run club called the Highland City Striders, who are focused on community service and have helped me along my running journey as well.

Given my love of running, the connection I feel to the Dorchester community and Boston in general, and my involvement with tennis — raising funds for the Sportsmen’s Tennis & Enrichment Center (STEC), an incredible organization dedicated to enriching the lives of youth in Boston’s Blue Hill Corridor, is deeply meaningful to me.

Through top-level tennis instruction and valuable academic programs, Sportsmen’s helps young people develop skills that will serve them on and off the court. Every dollar you contribute will support these future leaders and provide them with opportunities to excel in tennis, academics, and life.

I’ve been privileged to work on national network TV shows such as “ER” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. Independent short films and music videos I’ve produced have been accepted into over 150 film festivals worldwide, winning a number of awards including Best Short Film at Comic-Con San Diego. I’ve helped build or put on events for organizations such the Filmshift Film Festival, Workbar, City Awake, and The Boston Calendar. —- But nothing has brought me more joy than running and doing what I can to support the Boston community.

I am over the moon thrilled to be running the 130th Boston Marathon and to help support an organization whose mission I believe in strongly. With your help, we can help STEC continue to thrive, grow, and help young folks reach their full potential.

It’s going to be a fun purposeful journey, I hope you can follow along and give what you can to help us reach our fundraising goal!