Rich on Running: Swampscott native Dalton running B.A.A. Half Marathon for her father

On Sunday, Oct. 13, at the Boston Athletic Association Half Marathon, Swampscott native Kelly Dalton will be running for her father.?It would be great to shed some time off, but this race is a tribute to my father,” said Dalton, a nurse at Boston Children?s Hospital and Southie resident. “Running to honor him is more important than running faster.”That?s because her father, Peter “Pedro” Dalton, was diagnosed with advanced recurrent prostate cancer several years ago. This summer, the Dalton family learned it had spread to his spine and ribs. He underwent radiation, and is now part of a clinical trial at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.?He is feeling much better and doing an unbelievable job,” Kelly Dalton said.This is her third BAA Half, and her third running for Dana-Farber. The first two times, in 2010 and 2011, she ran “to support the institution and their research efforts that benefit all patients, as well as for her own patients,” said Tiffany Ruffin of the Dana-Farber communications department.The Dana-Farber team this year includes 650 runners, each of whom has committed to raising at least $500 to benefit adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Dana-Farber.For Kelly Dalton, the cause is personal this year.?My dad is so supportive and caring,” she said. “When I graduated high school and started nursing school, he continued to cheer me on. When I would call home in the middle of the night from the library, doubting my ability to become a nurse, my dad was always the voice on the other end of the line encouraging me to ?keep trucking.? I knew that if he refused to give up on me, I couldn?t give up on myself.”Peter Dalton has helped his daughter as an athlete, coaching her in soccer, basketball and softball when she was growing up.?He would have coached me in field hockey too, but he didn?t know the rules,” she said. “He drove me to all of my practices, would follow the bus during away games, and be the loudest one cheering on the sidelines.”After graduating from Swampscott High in 2005, she went to the Connell School of Nursing at BC, where she received her BSN in 2009. While in college, she began running, and “just like everything else, Pedro was there cheering me on,” she said. “The first year I ran the BAA Half, my dad drove to five different check points to see me run. I don?t know how he managed since most of the roads around the route were closed off.”Dalton has run the Boston Marathon before, in 2007, but she seems to have found her stride in half marathons.?Half marathons are great: they still challenge you physically and mentally, but you can still walk when they are over,” she said.Dalton finished the BAA Half in 2:17 in 2011. Her family?s life has undergone some challenges and difficulties since then, but the bond between her and her father has stayed strong.?When I told him I would be running for him this year with Team Dana-Farber, he told me he wished he could run with me,” Dalton said. “Every step of this year?s race is for him.”