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Meet
Our 2008 Boston Marathon ® Team
Name:
Frances Noone
Hometown:
Lynn, Massachusetts
Frances's
Story:
I am so excited and honored to be one of the fifteen Habitat
Hotfooters for Boston Marathon 2008. In being selected as
a Habitat Hotfooter, I get to bring together two of my favorite
things: running and Habitat for Humanity.
When you grow up in the Boston area, the chances of catching Boston
Marathon Fever are particularly high. I first caught Boston
Marathon Fever when my parents brought me and my brothers and
sisters to the Boston Marathon in the late seventies. We
went to the Prudential Center and read the Marathon monument that
listed all the winners. Cramming at the back of the crowd
on the Prudential Center Plaza, we could catch glimpses of the
runners crossing the finish line. The crowd let up a constant
roaring cheer. The event was electric. It was a 26.2
mile conductor celebrating the human spirit. Even though
I could barely see any of the runners, I could feel the moment.
The energy of the Boston Marathon, the exhilaration, the buoyant
swell of sheer human spirit charged every bit of my body and being.
Bill Rogers won that day.
That night when I went to bed, I envisioned that I would one day
run the Boston Marathon, I would be the youngest winner, and I
would be the first woman to win the Boston Marathon outright.
Well, I have not won, and probably will not win, the Boston Marathon
outright. However, in being selected to be one of the Hotfooters,
I already have won the thrill of joining all the runners and all
the dedicated spectators to make yet another special and powerful
day celebrating the human spirit. This will be my second time
running the Boston Marathon and my fifth Marathon all together.
The outdoors and running have always been part of my life.
Running is an invigorating physical counter balance to work, school,
or any of my endeavors such as my current endeavor of studying
economics. I started running regularly on my own at eleven
and ran on my high school cross country team. I will
continue to run for a good many years.
Habitat for Humanity is also a physical and tangible expression
of the human spirit. I feel so alive on a day working on
a Habitat site. (If you haven't yet, I highly recommend
it.) In college I worked restoring adobe churches in New
Mexico. A friend who noticed that I enjoyed getting my hands
in the mud brought me to a Habitat site. Since then I have
built on Habitat sites for and with terrific people in New Mexico;
Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Massachusetts; and, most recently,
in St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans, Louisiana in June 2007.
(Hello to all of you whom I met and worked with in Louisiana,
especially the fabulous people of St. Bernard Parish and New Orleans.
If anyone would like to find out more about this, please contact
me at fnoone2007@yahoo.com.)
Running the Boston Marathon with and raising money for Habitat
for Humanity Greater Boston is an exciting new development in
my relationship with Habitat for Humanity.
By January 15, 2008, I get to raise plenty of money for Habitat
for Humanity Greater Boston. For me and every single one
of you who sponsors me, every big and small amount adding up to
plenty, I see this as a special and fabulous collaboration:
our money will transform into fabulous Habitat for Humanity homes
for some terrific people of Greater Boston area; and as a Habitat
Hotfooter, I am honored to run for each and every one of you in
Boston Marathon 2008. Thank you so much for joining me.
Do you want to help Frances run
this year's marathon? You can submit a donation to Habitat which
will go directly towards Frances's fundraising requirement of
$3,000. You can send your donations for Frances online, by phone
or by mail. Please make sure you specify that your donation is
for Frances Noone.
Donate
Online
We are able to accept secure online
donations through an agreement with Network
for Good. Please make sure to include Frances
Noone's name when you specify your donation. Click on the
image below if you are interested in making a tax-deductible donation
online using your credit card.
Donate By Phone
Please call (617) 423-2223 ext.
10 to speak with Maureen Galvin if you wish to make a donation
using your credit card. Be sure to tell Maureen that your donation
is to go towards Frances Noone's
marathon fund.
Donate By Mail
Please make a tax-deductible check
payable to Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston if you wish to
mail in your donation. Please be sure to include Frances
Noone in the memo.
Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston
240 Commercial Street
4th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
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