Meet the Sportsmen’s 2026 Marathon Team

What do you do with your day? Are you employed, a student, retired?
I work as a Member Coordinator for Longfellow Wellesley Tennis and Health Club, I sell memberships and help to manage the club in general.

How long have you been running?
I ran my first race, the 2022 Cambridge Half Marathon (at age 49), though I started running short distances of 1-3 miles about 10 years ago.

If you could time travel back anywhere – where would it be? And why?
Time is just a construct…except “Hammer Time”…that vibe lives inside each and every one of us.

Who is your favorite athlete of all time? And why are they your favorite?
I don’t really have a favorite athlete, though I do enjoy a lot of sports. These days, I get inspired most by the stories and accomplishments of so many folks I come across at run clubs, training runs, and on race day. Folks are drawn to running for such personal reasons and there is camaraderie and a feeling of connection that comes from learning about, participating in, and sharing each others’ stories as we strive to challenge ourselves.

If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be? And why?
I’d prefer doing ice cream and a walk on the beach over dinner, maybe even going on a hike or a road trip? — I thought about this question a lot since I couldn’t come up with a specific answer, so here’s my best shot: I’ve been privileged to work in Hollywood on TV shows and films such as “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” the medical drama, “ER”, and having my indie films get into 150+ film festivals. In other chapters in my life, I have put on community and business events, a film festival, and music shows; I’ve worked in radio, the startup and tech community, I wrote music articles for a regional newspaper, and I’ve taught video production, among other chapters. These days, I chat with different people daily who are interested in the club, or who I meet on runs — In each of the different chapters of my life, one theme is constant: Everyone I meet has something to offer…something interesting, something meaningful, something I can learn from, or consider, reconsider, feel connected to, or inspired by. So, maybe my answer is: anyone and everyone!

Why should someone support your run?
If my story happens to resonate with you personally and you are moved to donate to my efforts or share my story. Here are a few details for your consideration: 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 two local 5k races: the AAPI 5k, and the Mattapan Unity Fete 5k, and 4th at the Dorchester Day 5k…nor at the Cambridge Fall Classic this October where I ran a 5k in my personal best (so far) of 24:15.

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.

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 is deeply meaningful to me.