Standing near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, Gillian Reny's life changed forever. A senseless act of violence left her with traumatic injuries, but the efforts of a multidisciplinary medical team at Brigham and Women's Hospital saved her life and legs. In gratitude, her family established The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation at the Brigham, where today, Gillian's strength drives a relentless pursuit to transform how we prevent, treat, and recover from traumatic injury, the leading cause of death for people ages 44 and younger in the United States. 

This is my fourth time running the Boston Marathon and raising money for Stepping Strong. I have several friends who have lost limbs due to traumatic injuries and each of them are true inspirations to me. I also have a daughter with a rare disease who once ran the Chicago Marathon with the use of assistive crutches. All of these people along with Gillian Reny and her family remind me every step I take is a gift not to be taken for granted. This year I will run the Boston Marathon on my 65th birthday  on April 20th raising money to help others cope with or recover from traumatic injuries. I was supposed to run the marathon on my 59th birthday…4/20/2020…but it was canceled due to COVID so I ran it virtually around Lake Minnetonka. Here is more about how your donation will be put to work to help people around the U.S. and the world:

• Fuel Research: We support clinical studies and collaborative projects that accelerate solutions and improve trauma patient outcomes 
• Reimagine Care: We embrace the latest research to redefine best practices and transform trauma care for survivors
• Advance Education: We train the next generation of trauma leaders and empower the public to respond to trauma 
• Inspire Advocacy: We champion trauma survivors and injury prevention by raising awareness, supporting policy iniatives, and improving public safety

When you support a member of the Stepping Strong Boston Marathon Team, you're helping us turn tragedy into hope for civilian and military heroes who have suffered devestating traumatic injuries. As a solely philanthropically funded center, we depend on generous donations like yours to sustain our life-changing programs and iniatives. 

Thank you for supporting this extraordinary group of runners and continuing to honor the Boston Strong spirit!