Friends run through cancer

Four friends from Methuen are preparing to run the Boston Marathon on April 20 while each faces cancer, turning their training group into a support system. (wcvb.com) WCVB reported the runners are part of the same local club and have kept training together through diagnoses, treatment, and recovery. The station said two of them, Palmer and Zappala, are set to run their 25th consecutive Boston Marathon. (wcvb.com) The race they are targeting is the 130th Boston Marathon, scheduled for Monday, April 20, 2026. The Boston Athletic Association said the field includes more than 30,000 runners from all 50 states and more than 130 countries. (baa.org) Their story lands in the final week before Marathon Monday, when Boston’s annual race draws intense attention to charity teams, personal causes, and runners carrying illnesses and losses onto the course. Boston.com reported this year’s event will again send tens of thousands from Hopkinton to Boston. (boston.com) WCVB said the four friends are also raising money to help with treatment-related costs, tying the marathon’s fundraising culture to the everyday bills that come with cancer care. The station framed the group’s training as both preparation for 26.2 miles and a way to stay connected through a year of medical setbacks. (wcvb.com) The Boston Marathon has long mixed elite racing with personal campaigns for hospitals, research groups, and family emergencies. The Boston Athletic Association said its 2026 Giving Day alone raised more than $2 million, the largest single day of fundraising in race history. (baa.org) In Methuen, the focus is narrower and more immediate: four friends, one start line, and a race they will reach together after months shaped by scans, appointments, and runs. On April 20, the same course that marks Boston’s biggest road race will also mark their next checkpoint. (wcvb.com)