Last year, St. Mary’s High School, in partnership with the track and field team, decided to run a marathon to raise money for the Martin Richard Foundation. The idea sprung from a summer reading book the English department assigned called “Stronger” by Jeff Bauman.
“Stronger” describes the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Bauman’s rehabilitation, and the investigation into the bombing, as Bauman was a key witness. For the 10th anniversary of the bombing, St. Mary’s decided to raise money through their own marathon.
Spearheaded by English teacher Stacy Drector and track and field coach Tristan Smith, the students raised more than $4,000 for the foundation.
“We only expected to hopefully raise $1,000 but we ended up raising over $4,000,” Drector said.
After the success from last year, Drector and Smith are happy this is going to be an annual event.
“When I went last year everyone was just having so much fun. Yeah they were running, but everyone was mingling and having a great time while doing it,” Drector said. “They just really go into it which made us happy because we didn’t know what to expect since it was our first time doing it.”
“People who weren’t even on the team were asking how they could donate. Kids want to be involved and be part of something bigger than themselves,” Drector said. “I had kids donate who came up to me in class and asked if they could just donate a dollar. No matter how much they donate, kids just want to be involved.”
This year St. Mary’s is hitting the track once again, this time raising money for My Brother’s Table, a local organization in Lynn.
“I spoke to someone at My Brother’s Table and they’re going through a lot of renovation and they need stuff like food donations and anything we can do to help,” Drector said. “Our school does a lot currently, they make sandwiches regularly. Anything we can do to help our own community we’re glad to do.”
Founded in 1982, My Brother’s Table is the largest soup kitchen on the North Shore. Since 2020 it has served more than 3.9 million meals to those in need.
Over the years, St. Mary’s has done work in conjunction with Rachel’s Challenge, and this year they helped out My Brother’s Table.
“We have Rachel’s Challenge at the school which has over 100 members serving community activities through Rachel’s Challenge,” Drector said. “Every month they make sandwiches and they did a Thanksgiving food drive for My Brother’s Table. We looked at their website and saw it wasn’t just a place for people to come and get food, but they were bringing food to people’s homes and to people who are ill. We decided it was the best organization to choose. It’s important for the kids to see us give back and we’re not just throwing money at a random organization.”
Smith has volunteered at My Brother’s Table in the past and the impact he felt is something that will never be forgotten.
“My Brother’s Table has done extremely important work for the people of Lynn and Greater Lynn. They’re a food bank that does a lot no matter who you are,” Smith said. “I’ve volunteered there several times and one thing that struck me is the fact it’s no questions asked. Folks come in, it doesn’t matter the situation, they take as much or as little food as they need at that moment. It’s just about doing good for the most amount of people in a direct way. To support them and that mission definitely fills my heart with gratitude.”
This year the marathon will take place on April 4 at 2:45 p.m. at Manning Field. Instead of running 26.2 miles, Smith is hopeful of the team running an ultra-marathon consisting of 50 miles.
“I think it’s an awesome event. I was so excited when Ms. Drector brought it to my attention. People were really into it and were into the idea of sponsoring it,” Smith said. “This year the team is bigger than last year so as a team I think we’re going to make it more like an ultra marathon and run around 50 miles as a team.”
If you would like to sponsor a runner or make a donation to My Brother’s Table, please contact either Drector at [email protected] or Smith at [email protected]. Or you can send the donation to the school (35 Tremont Street) to Drector’s or Smith’s attention.
Due to forecasted rain the event will be at St. Mary’s high school.
