BOSTON — We're about two weeks away from the 127th Boston Marathon, and charity runners are trying to finish off their training and fundraising strong. That includes the Pardus family, spread across a handful of states.
Five members of this family are hitting the streets of Boston together with the goal of raising money for a cause close to their heart.
Dave and Sue Pardus are siblings and also alum of Bowdoin College. They've both run this marathon before but said this year is special because they're running with their kids, Taylor and Chris Galland and Elysse Pardus, to honor their mother and grandmother.
"It has been a year for grandma," Chris said.
Team Pardus is part of the Alzheimer's Association Marathon Team to honor the matriarch of their family, Marilyn.
"[She was] a great mother. [She] took care of us. She kind of made it up as she went because she was very young. She was 21 when she had me," Dave said, thinking of his mother.
Marilyn died last year on Marathon Monday while Sue was running for Team End Alz.
"She could have left her on her birthday, which was about 10 days before. She could have left us, as David said before, on Good Friday. She could have left us on Easter. She was fairly religious," Sue said. "But, she waited until Marathon Monday, so kind of in my heart of hearts I knew it was the day she was going to go at that point, and she did."
While losing their mother and grandmother was hard, the family knew they all had to lace up their sneakers a year later. Sue and Dave are marathon veterans, having both run for the Alzheimer's Association before, but the three grandchildren have never run long-distance in the past.
When they were all in Florida visiting with their grandfather after their grandmother's death, Taylor decided to go out for what she thought would be a quick run.
"I ended up just feeling good that day, feeling light on my feet like feeling like something carrying me, and I ended up running an impromptu half marathon around their complex," Taylor said. "I think that was grandma saying, "Hey, Chris wants to do this run; Dave is going to do this run; Sue is going to do this run; Elysse is going to do this run; Taylor, you can, too."
All five have different running goals for race day, but one thing they seem to agree on is the importance of raising awareness for this disease.
"It's something bigger than just a race," Elyse said. "I'm doing this for someone else, for a lot of people out there."
The long-run family group text will end in just a few weeks, but the memories of training for the Boston Marathon as a family in honor of Marilyn will last a lifetime.
The Pardus family has a goal of raising $100,000 before Marathon Monday. You can learn more and donate here.