SWAMPSCOTT — DJ Racette had one goal in mind when he traveled to the Big Apple this past weekend, and that was to finish the New York City Marathon.
Last Sunday, Racette accomplished that goal, running the 26.2-mile race in three hours and 32 minutes; he finished in 275th place in an event that welcomed 33,000 participants this year.
“The New York City Marathon is amazing,” said Racette. “I’ve never seen it before. This was my first time there. The size of the crowd and the crowd support for 26 miles was just astonishing.”
Racette said he ran the 50th New York City marathon this year to benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF), a charitable organization that is dedicated to the incurable blood cancer. He said he raised more than $50,000 for the charity; most of this funding came not from the marathon, but from a fundraiser event that was hosted by Granite Coast Brewing Company in Peabody.
This is Racette’s second time raising money for the MMRF. In 2016, he raised $5,000 for the organization.
“I chose to join the charity team based on my previous experiences working with them,” said Racette. “I raised about $5,000 before Ironman Lake Placid.”
During that event — a triathlon where participants swim for 2.4 miles, bike for 112 miles and run a 26.2-mile marathon — MMRF had set up a day where the triathletes could observe the multiple myeloma research that was taking place in the charity’s laboratories, Racette said.
“In the course of a year of preparing for an Ironman, there’s a lot of events they have us attached to,” he said. “We can meet patients, we can meet researchers, we can meet doctors who are working with the drugs that are created because of the research that is done with the money we raise.”
MMRF also provided an opportunity for multiple myeloma patients to participate in the Ironman competition.
“The one that sticks out in my mind is the night before the race, there’s this big reception, and there were actual patients on the team racing in an Ironman,” said Racette. “There were people with multiple myeloma (who) were going to do this crazy race with us.”
Racette said the New York City Marathon was an unbelievable experience and that he was blown away by the number of people who showed their support and volunteered at the event.
The New York City Marathon is the largest marathon in the world and the signature event of the New York Road Runners (NYRR), the world’s premier community-running organization. Participants tour the diverse neighborhoods of New York’s City’s five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan, according to the NYRR website.
The event typically draws more than 1 million spectators, who line the streets to support the runners on the first Sunday of November each year, the website said.
“When you finish, there’s just a straight stream of volunteers handing out drinks, food, and drapes to put over yourself so you don’t get too cold,” said Racette. “There’s this long line of hundreds of people handing stuff out to you.
“Everyone who is not actively handing you something is clapping. It’s this incredibly overwhelming spectacle. My brain was honestly not working. All I could say to anyone was ‘thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your help.’”
