RUNNING IN THE FAMILY
Boston Marathoner lacing up sneakers to help father fight cancer
PAWTUCKET – Among all the preparations Jackie Dempsey must make heading into Monday’s 121st running of the Boston Marathon, perhaps the most important is to keep reminding herself why she made a firm commitment to lace up her sneakers for this 26.2-mile grueling task.
All the 31-year-old special assistant to Pawtucket Red Sox president Dr. Charles Steinberg must do is not lose sight of the man who’s served as her chief source of inspiration. Her father Jack Dempsey was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago. Today, daughter Jackie is proud to report that her interpretation of a sparkling, larger-than-life personality is in remission to the point that Jack – well-versed in Boston Marathon culture – no longer needs to take medication. “To see everything he’s gone through, especially training for this type of race, just gives me mental toughness,” Jackie Dempsey said.
Her motivation extends beyond Jack’s tri- umph. Cancer has claimed the life of Jackie’s grandfather, one of her uncles, and the father of her best friend. She also noted PawSox chairman Larry Lucchino is a two-time cancer survivor.
As an inaugural Boston Marathon runner, Dempsey had to obtain a race bib through the charitable route. Given the cancer-related triumphs and tragedies that have touched her, aligning with the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team was a no-brainer.
“Running for all these people, in honor and in memory of them, is very special and important to me,” Dempsey said. “A lot of times when we’re running those long distances, we’re in pain. The people going through the cancer treatments, that’s the true pain.
“There are so many people who have been through this battle and it doesn’t make sense,” says Dempsey, her voice lowering to a whisper. “We have to figure out a way to cure it.”
Ardent Red Sox fans may know that Dempsey, a Lexington, Mass. native, is a ball girl at Fenway Park, a position she’s held since 2009. Whenever there’s an elaborate on-field pregame ceremony, the odds are good that she’s out there directing people where to sit or stand.
Dempsey has always been an athlete, with a background in soccer, track, and softball. In college, she was a shortstop at Villanova University, earning third team AllBig East honors as a senior in 2008. Still looking the part of an athlete, you would think that she would be able to pick up where she left off at a moment’s notice, be it the softball diamond or the soccer field.
The post-playing days have proven to be challenging. She broke an ankle playing softball in college, suffered a torn ACL, and underwent hip surgery shortly after the Red Sox captured the 2013 World Series. Factoring in all these injuries, it’s a semi-miracle that Dempsey is willing to put her body through the toiling demands of running.
“In my mind I’m thinking, ‘I want to run one marathon and I want to run it before my body completely breaks down,’” Dempsey said.
The green light from DanaFarber to join their race team came last fall after Dempsey submitted an application, wrote a couple of passages where she referenced the number of family and friends who have been touched by cancer, and proposed a fundraising plan. The training programs given by Dana-Farber advised that runners wait until the first week in December. To get to the suggested first-week workload of running three or four miles on three separate days and five miles on the weekend, Dempsey kick-started her workout routine in November.
It was her dad who suggested that it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a jump on things, given Dempsey’s injury history and the fact she’s not a natural distance runner. The advice came from a reputable source as Jack participated in a dozen Boston Marathons before his knees gave out. Jack currently coaches track and softball at Medford High School.
Jack gave his daughter a soup-tonuts guide on how to get ready to tackle the streets of Boston on the third Monday in April. From eating properly, to making sure to get enough rest, to a workout schedule that would fluctuate based on the number of miles logged from the previous day, Jack’s support proved invaluable as Jackie trained for the big race.
Jack would often accompany Jackie on her runs. He served as an invaluable water station at two-mile intervals and a navigator who would point in the direction of where Jackie would head next when she felt ready to continue running.
“I knew he would be the one to coach me through,” said Jackie, whose mother Janice is a two-time Boston Marathon participant.
Injuries may have robbed Jackie of much of her natural ability, yet her drive to be the best remains just as strong. Knowing his daughter, Jack passed an important tip that hopefully ensures that Jackie reaches her goal of crossing the finish-line some four-and-a-half hours after taking off Monday at 11:15 a.m. from Hopkinton.
“My dad has told me, “I know you’re competitive, but you better not try and beat the person next to you. Go out slowly and if you get to 18 miles and you feel good, you can take off. Hold back because your body is so beat up. You’ve done enough training, but you haven’t done the training you would need to be competitive,’” Dempsey said.
Building up the necessary endurance to tackle Marathon Monday was one thing, as Dempsey can now do 18 miles no problem. The challenge of asking for donations to reach the $8,000 quota that Dempsey was given by Dana-Farber was an entirely different matter.
“I wanted to raise as much as possible, but it’s so hard to ask people for money,” she said. “Once they learned who I was running for, it made it much easier to ask for support.”
Dempsey explained that all the funds are going towards a worthwhile cause – cancer research to fund trail drugs. She ended up smashing her goal with $9,400 in reserve as of Wednesday, but would like to give as much as possible to the cause.
“It’s so great to know that nobody is doing this for themselves. They’re all doing it to benefit someone else,” Dempsey said. “I couldn’t think of a better cause to raise money for.”
Monday will mark the first Red Sox Patriots’ Day game that doesn’t feature Dempsey as one of the team’s ball girls. Instead, she’ll be channeling her positive energy in the hope of fulfilling a promise she made to herself long before her dad went through his cancer ordeal.
“I’m hoping that seeing his daughter doing this makes him smile,” Jackie Dempsey said. “I’m sure it will.”
To donate or learn more about Dempsey’s cause, visit