WESTFIELD – Anyone who has ever run in their lifetime runs with a purpose.
Whether it was a timed mile in gym class, to catch a bus home, or to elude the authorities, everyone has gone for a run in their lifetime.
“I ran four years of track and cross country my senior year in high school,” said Janette Kosior, formerly of Westfield but now of Norwalk, Connecticut. “When I went to UMass, I ran here and there. But I’ve been running 5K’s, and ran a half-marathon last year in New Haven.”
And now, Kosior has her sights set on one of the most daunting challenges a runner can undertake, as she is preparing to don a numbered bib and hustle the arduous course, from Hopkinton to the Hub of the Universe, of this year’s Boston Marathon in honor of Bron, her brother who passed away after two courageous bouts with Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare pediatric bone cancer.
It is the memory of her brother that pushes her to the limit every time she laces up her kicks.
“Bron was first treated in the ’70s, and it came back 15 years later. He passed in ’97, when he was 27,” Kosior said of her brother, who was three years her elder. “There’s nothing like a bond between a brother and a sister, and I’m doing it for his memory.”
Kosior praised the efforts and service of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, whose Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge she has partnered with, and said that she has raised over $10,000 already, and believes her goal of $13,000, which will go to the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, is more than attainable.
“It’s a very good cause,” she said. “We’re passionate about raising money and having his memory live on.”
What started locally in Norwalk, a small coastal city which sits 45 minutes from New York City, has turned into a full court press that has involved family, friends, and corporate donors, and has built up a sizeable presence on social media.
“It’s a full force family effort,” she said. “We have lots of family around Boston.”
Marathon Monday 2014 is sure to be an emotional day for Kosior and everyone in attendance and participating, as the tragedy that struck last year’s event is still weighing heavy on the minds of everyone in Boston, and Janette is well aware of what to expect.
“It’s a big year for Boston,” she said. “With all the tragedy (last year), that will be a motivating factor, thinking of what people went through.”
Kosior, who turned 40 this month, said that she believes she is ready for the big show after her “milestone” birthday.
“After three years of cross-fit training, I’ve pushed myself and it’s given me the confidence and capability,” she said. “I know I can do these (marathons).”
But Kosior knows that the memory of her brother is what will really drive her to the finish line on April 21.
“My parents were talking awhile back, and thinking of how my brother was a rarity (when he got sick),” said Kosior. “But now, everyone’s been touched by cancer. We can’t raise enough money for research.”
Donations can be made to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge by logging on to Janette’s personal page, www.rundfmc.org/2014/janettek.
