West Hartford couple raising money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute running in Boston Marathon

Putting in the miles to help with the fight against cancer. A West Hartford couple will be running in the Boston Marathon to raise money for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

For Kelly Horan and Tom Golembeski, there’s nothing like running in the Boston Marathon.

“The crowds are huge and the people really kind of pull you through the race. So mostly to enjoy ourselves, have a good time and really get to enjoy the experience,” Horan said.

An experience they got to be a part of more than a dozen times together, raising money for charity.

“You don’t go more than two minutes without someone on the sidelines cheering for you, go and go get a Farber runner,” Golembeski said.

So far this year they’ve raised more than $35,000 for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and for Horan there’s extra motivation to run, as her mother passed from stage 4 colon cancer.

“She passed four and a half years ago, Mary Ellen Horan, and I loved her. She’s my best friend, but what I’ll say is that it became deeply personal,” she said.

She credits the institute for helping extend her mother’s life and wants to pay it forward.

“She had eight great years, and I really attribute Dana-Farber because they get world-class sort of research and approaches to cancer,” Horan said.

But their current approach will be this year’s Boston Marathon where the couple hopes to finish in under four and a half hours. No matter how tired they may get, they know there are people cheering them on towards the end.

“It’s like the most, just like, it’s really a joyous occasion. It’s like a big hug from the city of Boston,” Golembeski said.

And with all the marathons they have run, they’ve together raised more than $150,000 total for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

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