Boston Marathon
“I’m so honored to carry her with me for every minute and mile of this race, in the city that we loved.”
Hannah Orzechowski Murrary is running the 2026 Boston Marathon.
In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon athletes share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston. Looking for more race day content? Sign up for Boston.com’s pop-up Boston Marathon newsletter.
Name: Hannah Orzechowski Murray
Age: 31
From: Malden
I will be running the Boston Marathon on the Dana-Farber team in memory of my sister Grace, who was treated there for glioblastoma for 2 years before passing away at the age of 24. December 2025 marked 5 years since she passed, and March 2026 (shortly before the marathon) marks her 30th birthday.
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This runner is raising awareness about stroke and heart disease
My sister Grace was extraordinary. Equal parts kind and chaotic, she lit up every room she stepped into and was well-loved by her communities from home, high school, college, and beyond. Grace loved dancing. She loved her dogs. She loved country music, and editing photos so they were perfect, and trying to cheat at board games, and being the “cool girl” who could drive stick shift. She loved nice sunglasses, and her silver rings, and (for a brief and strange period of time) hedgehogs. She loved lacrosse, and she tolerated running, but she loved indoor track in high school because it was the only sport we ever got to do together. She loved life, and being young and carefree and beautiful. But most of all, she loved us. She loved her family, her friends, her people. She was fiercely loyal, vividly bright, deeply sarcastic, unbelievably funny, and truly good.
I miss her every moment of every day. I’m so honored to carry her with me for every minute and mile of this race, in the city that we loved, fundraising for the organization that treated her with such incredible care.
I’m running for my sister Grace, my father-in-law Jeff (my husband is also running in his memory), my grandparents, my mother, my aunts, my family, and all of the many, many people whose lives have been inexplicably and permanently touched by cancer.
Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.
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