According to Google Maps, the distance between Wayzata, Minnesota, and Boston, Massachusetts, is 1,408.2 miles. They say following I-90, with no traffic, it would take 20 hours and 58 minutes to drive between the two cities. Sally Ankeny Reiley has followed a more circuitous route to Boston than the one highlighted by Google. Her path from Lake Minnetonka into Copley Square added plenty of traffic, a lot more miles, and has taken a few decades to get from “Theaaah” to “Heaaah.”
Monday morning, Sally, assistant director of development and long-time trustee of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, will meet with more than 50 like-minded “fund-racers” at the Boston Common to share a 26.2 mile bus ride to Hopkinton. Joining 30,000 other participants at the starting line of the 120th Boston Marathon, the fast-footed teammates of MEEI have collectively raised more than $4 million since 2006. To date, this year’s 50-plus runners have raised more then $500,000. Sally and her daughters have raised $36,000 so far and are expecting more in support of full spectrum care of eye and ear disorders as well as head and neck cancers.
Each participant of the team will run into Boston with a uniquely compelling story of how MEEI has contributed to their lives. Some marathoners dedicate their run to support the works of clinician/scientists Drs. Eric Pierce and Christopher Hartnick. Many more runners participate in sheer defiance of the terrorism that scared our city in 2013. Stories of motivation are as varied as the runners’ abilities. What they have in common is a sense of optimism for how groundbreaking work at MEEI improves the quality of life for patients.
Reiley’s third run to the finish line laces together four generations of family history at MEEI. In the 1960s her grandparents flew from Wayzata to Boston to receive specialized treatment from Dr. Charles Schepens — known as the father of retinal surgery and founder of the Schepens Eye Research Institute. Eventually, Schepens also successfully corrected a genetic condition that similarly plagued Sally’s father. Acknowledging what MEEI has given the family of Wayzata, Mr. Ankeny joined the board of the Boston Infirmary. At 83, he remains one of their active members, frequently visiting the hospital and teleconferencing board meetings.
Marrying her college sweetheart after graduating from Dartmouth in 1981, Sally came to the sport of running as a young mom. Realizing she could get some quick exercise by looping 6.2 miles around Marblehead Neck, the mother of five sprinted out her door and back in less than an hour. A natural athlete, Sally’s enthusiasm for running increased as her times steadily improved. Certain that marathoning would never be on her bucket list, the fair-weather jogger was content to run for fun. Sally’s heart took a literal and figurative change of direction after she witnessed the guts and strength of patients being treated at MEEI for injuries inflicted by the hate-filled Marathon bombers.
In support of the victims and care providers, Reiley committed to join the Infirmary’s 2014 Marathon fund-raising team, finishing her first amazing race of Boston in 3:34:30. Sally now thinks of the 26.2-mile route as a series of block parties that includes cheering Wellesley co-eds, rave-filled neighborhoods passing out Solo cups of beer, and a chorus of B.C. kids singing Sweet Caroline.
Energized by the pace that makes her feel Boston Strong, Sally’s second race in the drizzly cold of last year finished in 3:36:13. This year, along with the cacophony of street bands, DJs and boom-boxers, first-time Boston Marathoner’s Heather and Julia Reiley will join their mom on the fund-raiser route. Heather, a medical student at UMass, says she understands the importance of supporting medical research. Julia teams up, motivated to join the family’s tradition of raising money for MEEI after attending an event with her mother and hearing touching stories of patients whose lives have benefited from the MEEI’s world-class care.
The MEEI team. (Courtesy of Sally Ankeny Reiley)
The specialty hospital founded in Boston in 1824 combined strengths with the Schepens Eye Research Institute in 2011 to become the world’s largest ophthalmology research center. It’s earned an international reputation for treatment of the most difficult conditions. Last year, MEEI was ranked by U.S. News and World Report as fourth in ophthalmology services and first in the care of ear, nose and throat disorders. MEEI is a teaching facility for Harvard Medical School, training students to combine a wide variety of specialties with personalized gene therapies and vital rehabilitation practices.
This Monday 80 percent of the marathon’s international competitors will enter the field having met qualifying time requirements. Legendary Olympian and fellow Marblehead-er Shalane Flanagan will be running the course shared with contestants invited by the Boston Athletic Association to participate in the event as a means of supporting one of the race’s officially recognized charities.
Wearing bib No. 19757, Sally Ankeny Reiley will run the 26.2-mile car-free route from Hopkinton to Boston alongside her like minded fund-raisers with the intention of highlighting the necessity of funding medical research at MEEI. If you see an Institute’s team member in Hopkinton, Boston or anywhere between “Theaaah” and “Heaaah,” they hope you’ll consider joining them by supporting Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute’s campaign to fund bold science lifesaving cures.
