by Danielle Ray
It was almost as if the unseasonably callous and harsh weather that made its presence known the day of the 2018 Boston Marathon was in some ways mirroring 21-year-old Matt Maypother’s road to the race. Maypother, a longtime
resident of Sterling, was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer when he was just 17 months old and was given a meager five percent chance of survival. Against all odds, after treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston,
he was eventually declared cancer free.
His mother Karen Maypother ran the Boston Marathon for the Dana-Farber team in 2005 and again in 2010. Matt and his father Rick Maypother, Karen’s husband, joined her as she crossed the finish line the first time. Days after Karen finished the second marathon Rick was diagnosed with cancer. He died six months later.
Last year Karen was going through some of Matt’s old school papers and came across a fifth grade writing assignment where he expressed a desire to run a marathon in 10 years like his mother.
“I saw that and thought, this is a good year to do that,” says Maypother. “I’m young, it’s my senior year of college, and my mom ran it twice in honor of me.”
Maypother, who is graduating from UMass Amherst this month with a degree in psychology, decided in December to join the Dana-Farber Boston Marathon team and began training in early January for the prestigious 26.2 mile race that
attracts 30,000 registered runners representing 99 countries. Although he is naturally athletic and plays a number of sports including baseball and football, he’s never been a runner.
“It was tough,” he says describing his training, which entailed running three or four times a week, including a long run on weekends maxing out at 18 miles.
“My first thought was, ‘Now I know how my parents felt’,” says Karen of Matt’s decision to run the marathon. “It’s a huge undertaking and puts a lot of strain on your body. I was happy, proud and worried. I ran in 2005 to celebrate five
cancer-free years for Matt, and in 2010 because I had so many relatives battling cancer.”
Maypother tracked the unpleasant weather that was forecasted and on the morning of the marathon awoke to 39 degrees and rain. He had never run in conditions like that before and calls it “a grind.”
“I was drenched from before I started the marathon through the whole thing,” he says, “but it was worth it.” Maypother’s family has battled cancer in many forms. He lost his grandfather to cancer in February last year, and his mother’s fiancé has been diagnosed with brain cancer. He says his father and grandfather were his inspiration to keep going when running the marathon became tough.
“I just kept pushing myself the entire way,” he says. “Once you hit mile 19 right before Heartbreak Hill, that’s when you really have to dig deep, and I felt my dad and gramps with me every step of the way.”
Several of Maypother’s family members including his mother, sister, aunt, and cousin, as well as a large number of college and hometown friends, lined the marathon route cheering him on. He says mile 24 was the most arduous and challenging stretch of the race for him, but that he got through it knowing that his loved ones were nearby.
Maypother crossed the finish line in four hours and 13 minutes, just over his goal
of finishing in less than four hours. He says that although the weather wasn’t ideal, it allowed for his fan club of family and friends to have ideal viewing as there were fewer spectators than usual.
“Every single person who came to see me had a front row seat,” he says. “I got to hug every single one of them and that was the most heartwarming part of the whole race. The love and support I had was really cool.”
Asked what she thought Rick would say to his son, Karen says that Rick was a very sweet and emotional person, and would have been crying too hard to say much. “I know he would have been beyond proud and honored that Matt had paid tribute to him that way, and would have never doubted his ability to accomplish his goal despite the monsoon he ran in.”
Maypother has raised nearly $14,000 for Dana-Farber via donations, and says he is not opposed to the idea of running another marathon in the future, either in Boston or elsewhere.
To donate to Matt Maypother’s Dana-Farber fundraising campaign, visit rundfmc.org/2018/mattm.