“2018 Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge – you’re on the team!”
That is the subject line I have been waiting to see hit my inbox for two years. Not only do I get a chance to run this historic race, but I get to do so while giving back to an excellent cause.
The Cause
The Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge supports the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
This charity holds a special place in my heart, and I couldn’t be more excited to be given the chance to fund such a great team. I have been a consistent platelet donor at the Kraft Family Blood Center, which supports both Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. While this is a very important facet of supporting the hostpital and their patients, I am very excited to support the greater mission, and hopefully push towards preventing cancer in the future. My last charity run with the Dana-Farber team was the 2017 B.A.A. 5K, and with the incredible generosity of my friends and family I was able to raise $1,400, and our team was able to raise a record breaking $80,825.01!!
I know everyone will be getting bombarded with donation requests, but I truly do appreciate any amount you can give. The money donated through this race goes directly to research that may one day find a cure to cancer.
The Fundraising
TL;DR: the link to my personal fundraising page is here.
Super Bowl Squares
Turkey Day Squares were such a success in fundraising, I am setting up some squares for the Super Bowl. Squares will be $20 again, and prizes will be as follows:
| Quarter | Score | Winner |
| First Quarter | 9-3 | $150 – Memere |
| Halftime | 22-12 | $150 – Mike Nichols |
| Third Quarter | 29-26 | $150 – Matt Goodwin |
| Fourth Quarter | 41-33 | $200 – Cody Goodwin |
The remaining money will go to Dana-Farber as a donation towards my goal of $10,000.
Spreadsheet can be found here.
Contact me with Cash/Venmo/Check to reserve a square. Feel free to request a specific square, or just ask for a random one.
Super Bowl Prop Bets
- Quick Rules:
- Unlimited Submissions – $20 Each Submissio
- Correct Answers get you one (1) point
- Top Three (3) Scoring submissions will win:
- #1 Top Scorer: 50% of the “pot” from submissions
- #2 Top Scorer: 20% of the “pot” from submissions
- #3 Top Scorer: Money back for this submission (not all)
The remaining money will go to Dana-Farber as a donation towards my goal of $10,000.
Build my Training Playlist
For those of you looking to a little more bang for your buck, I am giving you the chance to build the playlist I will be running to for my entire training calendar. If you would like the chance to add a song, Send me an email with the song title, repeats are allowed (John Mulaney style). Each song request will require a $10.00 donation to the fund.
Sean-Runs-Boston Google Music Playlist
Official training doesn’t start until January, but I will start working out with the playlist now for any early donors.
I am open to other fun fundraising ideas. If you have an idea, I would love to hear it: Send me an email
Turkey Day Squares
I am putting together squares for the three (3) NFL games on Thanksgiving. Each square will cost $20, and will be used for ALL three (3) games, giving you SIX (6) chances at winning! Each winner (half time score and final score) will receive $100 back.
Contact me with Cash/Venmo/Check to reserve a square. I will randomly assign you a square in each game. Lettering can be used for choosing the square, numbers will be drawn Wednesday night.
| Game | Half Score | Half Winner | Final Score | Final Winner |
| MN @ DET | 20-10 | “We got your emails, Podesta” | 30-23 | Dave Buckley |
| NYG @ WSH | 3–3 | Matt Goodwin | 20-10 | Chase |
| SD @ DAL | 3–0 | Mac Attack | 28–6 | Michelle Goodwin |
Bar Event
For those of you interested in fundraising for running Boston, or any other major fundraising activities, I would recommend hosting a bar event. I was able to send out a massive number of requests for donations, and had an event with several Opportunity Drawings (similar to raffle). This brought in a lot of money for Dana-Farber, but just as importantly it gave me a chance to hang out with many of the generous donors that have been contributing all along.
The Training
Feel free to follow along with my training (some read: suffering):
Training Gear:
Training Update
My journey to Boylston street actually started a little over a year ago. I applied to run Boston 2017 for the DFMC, but was not selected. This may have been a mix of my fundraising plans, and a weak running resume. I am now proud to say this resume is much stronger, having finished my first marathon on October 22, 2017 (2017 Marine Corps. Marathon).
I had an awesome time “Beating the Bridge” and “Charging the District” while also being incredibly humbled by the “Wear Blue Mile”. I missed my goal of a sub-4 marathon, but am happy with my first attempt. I now have a line drawn in the sand; and although the Boston course is not nearly as flat, I am looking forward to improving my time.
Even if you cannot donate, please mark your calendars to come out and cheer me on (April 16). See you at the finish line!
The Personal Blog of Sean Goodwin 
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