By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer
Photo/submitted
Shrewsbury – Megan Yuen, 21, is a 2013 graduate of Shrewsbury High School and currently a junior at Boston College (BC) working toward a degree in biology. On April 18, 2016, Yuen will be running the Boston Marathon on behalf of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF).
Yuen is an avid runner, typically clocking four to six miles five days a week – both alone as well as with a group of girls at Boston College on an unofficial club cross country team. She has run the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) half marathon twice and ran the MMRF 5K this past spring with Nicole Giusti, a friend who is on the same executive team for Boston Changing Health Attitudes and Actions to Recreate Girls (CHARGG). It is her friendship with Giusti that, when she made the decision to run the Boston Marathon, fueled her desire to run on behalf of the MMRF.
In 1995 Giusti’s mother, Kathy, was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer formed by malignant plasma cells. At the time, there were no treatments in the pipeline and she was given just three years to live. Because of the work of the MMRF, the world’s leading private funder of Myeloma research, the FDA has approved six new treatments in the past two years, which have doubled the lifespan of Myeloma patients like Kathy who is still alive today, more than 20 years post-diagnosis. In the world of oncology, said Yuen, this is incredible.
“When I made the decision to run the Boston Marathon next year, I knew for sure that I wanted to run for charity. After looking at all of the BAA charity partners, I saw that the MMRF was one of them,” said Yuen, adding, “It was a no-brainer for me that I wanted to run the marathon on their behalf.”
As a biology major who hopes to attend medical school after graduating from BC, Yuen is personally invested in medicine. She has experience in disease research and she knows firsthand just how important funding is.
“It is unfortunate but a reality that funding does dictate the progression of research and, in turn, results. This is why I believe in the MMRF so much and could not be more honored to run the Boston Marathon on behalf of this organization,” Yuen said. “It is clear that progress has been made and will continue to be made now and in the future.”
It is Yuen’s desire to help others, change lives and, ultimately, save lives. Running the Boston Marathon is one way she plans to do so. She has set a goal to raise $10,000 for the MMRF – making a difference though her fundraising while raising awareness for disease research.
“I could not be more excited to run the Boston Marathon and take on this personal challenge myself,” said Yuen. “It means the world to me that I can have a part in this progress and that my running and my fundraising can lead to work that will save lives – which no amount of money can even compare to.”
For more information on the MMRF, visit http://www.themmrf.org. To support Yuen through her fundraising page go to
http://support.themmrf.org/site/TR/EnduranceEvents/EnduranceEvents?px=1835873&pg=personal&fr_id=2220.
