With the 121^st Boston Marathon less than a week away, MIT Recreation is thrilled to highlight a few members of our community who will run this year. Training for a marathon takes hard work and discipline, and we applaud these runners for their dedication. We especially wish them luck, safety and maybe even some good weather on Monday, April 17, 2017.

The Boston Marathon is more than just about impressive feats of athletic performance though. Many runners choose to enter the race through pledging support to a local charity. Each athlete below has chosen just such a charity. If you are looking to give back within the community of Boston, we think pledging support to a Boston Marathon Runner is a great way to go! Meet three runners from the MIT Recreation community below:

Bruce Martin

MIT Affiliation: Dept. of Facilities

Team/Charity Running for: Team Collier Strong, for the Officer Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund

Motivation to Run the Marathon: My motivation is simple. It’s to run for those who can’t run.

Time Running the Boston Marathon: 1st time

Years of Running Experience: 3 years

William King

MIT Affiliation: Detective with the MIT Police Department

Team/Charity Running for: Boston Police Runners Club

Time Running the Boston Marathon: This will be my 3rd Boston Marathon. I ran it in 2014, 2016.

Years of Running Experience: I have approximately 19 years of running experience. I ran track in high school and college both in the winter and spring seasons and have actively run in numerous runs and I compete competitively in road cycling racing.

Andrew Turco

MIT Affiliation: MIT Police Department, Community Policing Sergeant

Team/Charity Running for: Team Collier Strong, for the Officer Sean A. Collier Memorial Fund.

Motivation to Run the Marathon: I have always wondered if I could run a marathon. A friend offered me the opportunity to run the marathon and raise money for Officer Collier’s charity. It was too good to pass up.

Time Running the Boston Marathon: This is my first marathon. My goal is to run it in less than 4 hours.

Years of Running Experience: I run 5Ks and relays a few times a year. Last year I ran my first half marathon and had a blast. Now I just need to run that distance twice…in one day. I’m really looking forward to 26 miles of high-fives.