Plymouth Woman Runs Falmouth Road Race for 'Grampy' and Family

This summer has been brutal for runners, it’s so hot and humid it feels like you’re running through a swamp, but there are some things that make it worth the effort.

For Plymouth resident Meg Flaherty, what makes it worth it is her personal battle against cancer. Flaherty, 46, is running this weekend’s Falmouth Road Race as part of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute team. She’ll be one of 200 runners supporting adult and pediatric patient care and cancer research.

“Cancer is a horrible disease. I hate it! ” Flaherty said. “It makes running on yucky hot days a little easier when you having something that you hate worse than the weather.”   

Cancer took two of her cousins and almost took her father when she was just 16.

When her seven-year-old cousin Rachel was diagnosed, Flaherty decided she had to do something. She told Rachel that if she could go through chemotherapy, that Flaherty wouild run the Boston Marathon. She promised Rachel that she would give her the medal after completing the race. Unfortunately, registration was closed for the Boston Marathon that year, so Meg decided to run the Falmouth Road Race for her. Rachel died that September and never got to see Flaherty run in six Boston Marathons that she completed since then. 

Due to a bad knee, Flaherty has returned to the Falmouth Road Race. 2013 will be a special year for her, as it would be the year that Rachel would graduate from high school and Bobby would turn 50.

“Running these races has never been about me or about my finishing time. It has always been about who I run for, Dana Farber and the people I run in memory of: my cousin's 7-year-old daughter, Rachel, my cousin Bobby who grew up two doors down from me and was like my big brother, and  my father-in-law, the sweet loving ‘Grampy’ to my children who was told ‘we are sorry there is nothing you can do enjoy your family you have 6 months to live.’ I have run six Boston Marathons with them on my shirt pushing me along. This will be the fifth Falmouth with them behind me doing the same.”