JACKIE KAWKA

THIS MARATHONER LOST HER MOTHER TO PANCREATIC CANCER. NOW, SHE RUNS FOR A CHARITY SUPPORTING EARLY DETECTION RESEARCH.

A er running the Boston Marathon once, Jackie Kawka admits she didn’t think she’d do it again. Patriots Day in 2016 was much hotter and sunnier than Kawka’s wintertime training efforts had prepared her for, and she recalls struggling for much of the course. And a er raising $10,000 to run with a charity team in memory of a cousin she had lost to multiple myeloma, Kawka, 36, was also tired of asking people for money.

Then in 2022, Kawka faced an unfathomable loss. Her mother,

Linda McNeely, 61, had gone to the emergency room in gastrointestinal distress. Tests revealed she likely had pancreatic cancer, but Linda died nine days later while awaiting an oncology appointment. She never received an official diagnosis.

In memory of her mother, Kawka is dedicating her second Boston Marathon to raising an astonishing $25,000 for Project Purple. The charity funds critical research aimed at earlier detection of pancreatic cancer.

Three out of four pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed at stage 3 or later, according to the National Cancer Institute. It’s one of the deadliest types of the disease, with only a 12.5 percent five-year survival rate.

“The biggest problem with pancreatic cancer is that it doesn’t show any symptoms until it’s already so advanced,” says Kawka who has also lost an uncle, another cousin, and her paternal grandfather to the insidious disease. “That’s why the prognosis is so poor.”

So she’s lacing up her sneakers — and hitting the fundraising trail — for the 128th Boston Marathon.

Linda was suffering in pain for the last week of her life, her daughter recalls. Because the family wasn’t quite sure what they were dealing with, they didn’t have the resources to help her. Had her mother been diagnosed sooner, “I think we would have been in a much different situation with palliative care,” Kawka says. At the time, she didn’t know about what assistance was available. She now knows that Project Purple provides support and financial aid to people with pancreatic cancer and their families, and aims to support that through her fundraising.

While grieving, Kawka thought about the Boston Marathon again and how she could possibly honor her mother’s legacy with another charity run. “I wanted to do something unique to pancreatic cancer,” Kawka says. She found Project Purple and learned the nonprofit had fielded a Boston Marathon team in the past, but not in recent years. “I thought to myself, if they come back next year or in the future, that will be my sign to run the Boston Marathon again.”

When the Boston Athletic Association announced the 2024 charity teams this past September, “sure enough, Project Purple’s there,” Kawka says. She wonders, in some way, if her mother had something to do with the organization’s return.

This time around, Kawka fully realizes that “April is a real wild card” weather-wise. “All we can do is hope for the best,” she says. “But, I’m hoping my mom might help me out with that, too.”

I thought to myself, if they come back next year or in the future, that will be my sign to run the Boston Marathon again.”