She is running Boston in honor of her mother who died of brain cancer

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name: Madison Oaks
Age: 23
City: Boxford

I am running the 2026 Boston Marathon in honor of my mother on behalf of Massachusetts General Hospital, making it my second year with the team.

When I was 14, my mum died of stage 4 brain cancer, but because of the MGB Cancer Center she didn’t die when I was 10 – something I will be forever grateful for.

On November 1, 2013, my three sisters and I left for school like any other day, but that morning, our mother had a grand mal seizure and was found outside by a neighbor. By December, she had had an MRI and surgery to diagnose the cancer, and was given six months to live. Well, my mom fought back and lived for three and a half years after her seizure, a feat that was only made possible through advanced chemotherapy, radiation, trials, and the tremendous support of the world-class nurses, doctors, and surgeons at MGH.

Since her death, I have become a nurse, working in oncology for about two years, and I get the opportunity to help cancer patients overcome adversity every day. I have even been able to progress to cancer care at the ICU level, supporting critically ill patients and their families to recover physically and emotionally from a variety of cancers.

I hope you’ll be able to support me on race day, and I can’t wait to see you at the end! Hold on to hope, and hold on to those you love.

Editor’s Note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.

Kelly Chan

Content Producer

Kelly Chan is a content producer at Boston.com. She designs multimedia content on the website and across social media platforms, and experiments with new ways to engage readers.