The
Run for ALS Team 2001 is pleased to announce that Roberta
"Bobbi" Gibb, first female finisher (1966-1968) of the Boston
Marathon, will be running this year’s race in support of the Angel Fund.
Established in 1999, the Angel Fund supports ALS (also known as Lou
Gehrig’s disease) research at the Day Neuromuscular Research Laboratory
at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
On the 35th anniversary of her first win, Bobbi Gibb is
dedicating her race to those afflicted with ALS in an effort to bring
greater awareness to this fatal neuro-degenerative disease. There is no
known cause or cure for ALS and death usually results from respiratory
failure in 2 to 5 years.
Ms. Gibb’s string of wins began in 1966; 6 years
before women were officially allowed to enter the Boston Marathon. In her
first Boston, Ms. Gibb avoided the attention of race officials by hiding
in the bushes near the race start in Hopkinton. By the halfway point she
was being cheered wildly by the women of Wellesley College, and at the
finish she was a celebrity. Ms. Gibb’s pioneering efforts have served as
inspiration to the many women who have followed her to the starting line
in Hopkinton.
In addition to Ms. Gibb, 19 other runners have also
pledged to run the race in support of the Angel Fund, and more
specifically in honor of their friend Scott Carlson. As recently as 3
years ago Scott himself was running marathons, surfing, skiing and
competing in triathlons. In 1996 he completed the 100th running of the
Boston Marathon. But this came to and end in 1999, when at the age of 34,
Scott was diagnosed with ALS. Since that time he has had to slowly abandon
the activities which are so important to him and he now struggles to do
what had once come so naturally.
This year’s fundraising effort builds upon the success
a smaller group of runners began last year. In the 2000 Boston Marathon
eight of Scott’s friends raised awareness of ALS and contributed over
$43,000 to research. This year’s group hopes to raise over $100,000 for
their cause.
