Operation 26.2

About Operation 26.2
I’m a goal-oriented kind of woman. As such, when I decided that I wanted to turn my relatively new love of running into a challenge, I aimed big.

Come April 19, 2010, I am going to run the Boston Marathon. Not only am I going to cross the finish line at Copley that day, I am do so as a way to help find a cure for cancer. As a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team, I am working to raise $6,500 to benefit the Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

It’s my first marathon. Like I said, I aimed big.

The people with whom I have spoken about marathons describe the personal journey that takes place during the training and the actual run. As such, I wanted to chronicle my journey. Operation 26.2 is a way of bringing you into the process: the highs, the lows, the funny moments and an honest take on what it is to go through this process not only on a personal level, but also as a member of a team working to accomplish a huge goal.

About Victoria Welch
A 28-year-old woman living in the Boston area, I am excitedly training for my first marathon. A longtime writer, blogger and editor, I contribute to the Boston-centric blog Bostonist and my personal website, VickieVictoria. A former staff writer at Vermont’s Burlington Free Press, my work has appeared in publications including the Boston Phoenix, Boston Herald and Austin City Limits Music Festival website.

I currently work as an editor for the website Life123.com. A lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, I spend my weekends as tour guide at Fenway Park. My Sox position has led to four marriage proposals from patrons (thus far) and has made my father pretty much the proudest parent in Vermont.

In my spare time, I enjoy karaoke, photography, Boston sports teams, live music and theatre and continuing my quest for coffeeshops in Boston that offer a maple latte.