FAB Hero Fights Cancer, Family Homelessness
In his own words long-time supporter and FAB Hero, Boston Marathoner Jim Partridge shares his fight against cancer, while running to end family homelessness.
I was first introduced to FamilyAid Boston through a long-time friend Kip Sanford, the Board Chair. Kip tricked me into running the Boston Marathon for the first time in 2013. Before that I always said running was dumb but went for a run one weekend and agreed to accept Kip’s offer to run. After several miserable months training in brutal Boston weather and an indoors treadmill, I was ready to give it a go.
This was that fateful Marathon. I finished 6 minutes before the bombing and didn’t appreciate the danger of what was going on. I heard the noise, but it wasn’t until the second blast that I realized that something terrible had happened.
This was my first road race, and I entered it the way that I do most everything in my life – jump in head-first and figure out the details later. A successful strategy for me in life! Running the Boston Marathon for FamilyAid Boston to help support homeless children and parents motivated me to keep at it.
A more difficult challenge presented itself late in 2016. I was diagnosed with cancer. By 2018 the cancer had advanced and my mortality was being questioned. I was fortunate that I could quietly turn to close friends and family for support at that time.
Everyone in life has downturns, crises, bad luck, and tough challenges. Those of us who make it through do so thanks to a strong support network. Sadly, there is not much of a safety net for homeless families, many of whom are living in poverty. I have been lucky for the support I have had.
If I couldn’t run any more, I asked myself how could I continue to support FamilyAid Boston?
As I started battling cancer, I joined what I thought would be an inconspicuous place where I could workout – a boxing gym called EveryBodyFights, whose motto is Nobody Fights Alone. There it resounded with me that everybody is fighting something. I was fighting cancer. FamilyAid Boston’s clients are fighting poverty.
In 2019, Kip again offered me the bib to run the Marathon for FamilyAid Boston. My oncologist told me no matter how much l loved” bad ideas” that this time would not be one of them. I had to keeping my long-term health a priority. Since I couldn’t run myself, I had to find someone else to run for me.
So, I teamed up with a friend and co-worker Emily Keenan. I told her, you just have to run, I will do all the fundraising. I know the marathon course well and know where it gets too hard to bear. I met up with her at mile 17 of the race, and she definitely was hurting. I greeted her with my FAB shirt on and walked/ran with her the last 9 miles. The rest of the FamilyAid Boston family was cheering us on at the top of Heartbreak Hill and snapped this photo.
Together we raised over $15,000 for FamilyAid Boston that year from my family, friends, and my new amazing community at Everybody Fights. The gym held its largest event ever with over 100 people attending our workout event and even more members donated.
In 2020, my 19-year old son’s best friend, Gabe agreed to run for me and as before I would do all the fundraising. Then COVID-19 arrived, canceling the Boston Marathon for the first time in its history. But thinking out of the box, the Boston Athletic Association established a virtual marathon where individuals could run independently and safely.
Gabe ran the virtual Boston Marathon on the hottest day of the year, a 99-degree day in July with my son Declan riding his bike beside him the whole way from Hopkinton to Copley Square. The two of them were committed to doing something epic to help the kids. They brought me to tears that day. But sadly, we had not reached our fundraising goal, having only raised just over $2,000.
Enter Rob Velasquez, a trainer and dear friend from my EveryBodyFights gym. He came to me and said, I have so much respect for you and your battle, I want to help you. Even without a bib or the promise of a medal, I will run the virtual Boston Marathon for you too!
Rob ran the virtual Boston Marathon in September. I joined him at mile 23, where I suspected he would struggle since I experienced the same challenges during 2013. With only 3 miles left, he was finding it hard to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I drove up alongside him playing his favorite motivational song very loud, just like he would do for me at the gym. That is what I needed he told me. He made it over the finish line with no glory, and no medal, but in his words, “Just for Jim.” Rob had stepped up big. Together we raised thousands more dollars from our community for FamilyAid Boston.”
Jim Partridge raised just shy of $10,000 this year for FamilyAid Boston, and a total of $32,000 over the past 7- years. He teaches us that everyone is fighting his or her own battles, and he inspires us to surmount even the toughest challenges. By helping others, we often end up helping ourselves as well.
Thank you, Jim. You are truly a FAB Hero.
