WORCESTER, Mass. - The 129th Boston Marathon won’t be John Kelly’s first rodeo.

“This will be my second Boston," Kelly said. "I ran Boston last year as well for the ALS fund. I've run probably, I don’t know, 20 plus marathons.”

What You Need To Know

  • John Kelly is running the Boston Marathon this year and supporting the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund at UMass Chan Medical School

  • Kelly is the chief operating officer and chief nursing officer at UMass Marlborough Hospital

  • Five runners are fundraising on behalf of the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund this year

  • Kelly said he's inspired to run for his brother-in-law, Peter, and his friend's husband, Brad, who are both fighting ALS

Kelly said he’s competed in hundreds of endurance events from marathons to Iron Man challenges, always to challenge himself. Now he’s running to help fight ALS, a cause he said is deeply personal.

“Now I'm running for all for folks out there that have ALS, particularly my brother-in-law, Peter, who's from Needham," Kelly said. "He was diagnosed in January 2024 with ALS and it's a devastating disease that is very impactful to him and his family.”

In addition to his brother in-law, Kelly has a second close friend who’s among the thousands battling ALS. Last year he raised more than $10,000 and this year he’s aiming for $20,000 to support the UMass ALS Cellucci Fund at UMass Chan Medical School.

“Well, the Cellucci Fund is part of a UMass. Dr. Brown is the head physician there that leads it and they do a lot of great work for their patients," Kelly said. "They're world renowned. They're partnered closely with the Mass General ALS clinic and they work closely on the research.”

Kelly’s looking forward to his second Boston Marathon, describing last year as ‘unbelievable’.

“It's as close as being a professional athlete as you're going to get if you're not a professional athlete," Kelly said. "You know, starting at the starting line in Hopkinton, there are crowds two, three, four people thick along the entire course of the marathon that are cheering you on, yelling for you.”

From Hopkinton to Boylston Street, Kelly said it’s 26.2 miles of support from spectators. And for him, it’s about providing support and hope for a cause close to his heart.

“There's a lot of people out there that are running for important causes like ALS, but mine is for Peter and the rest of the folks are out there dealing with ALS," Kelly said, "for them and their family and their kids that they're not alone.”