On April 18th 2011, veteran marathon runner - and Risa Rosengard’s cousin - Laura Davis will run the Boston Marathon in honor of the Risa S Rosengard Foundation. Laura has a tremendous connection to the Foundation and Risa: Risa’s dad, Leon, and Laura’s grandmother were first cousins and Laura has been a trustee at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (where Risa was treated) for 20 years, running marathons in aid of the Institute since the Dana Farber marathon challenge was established in 1990.

Having completed 17 marathons, Laura has a special passion for raising money for the Lenny Zakim Complimentary Therapies, women's cancers and pediatric cancers. Her own extended family has an excessive amount of history with cancer: some in complete long term remission; others who lost the fight. Some young, some old, all sad and too many friends lost.

Laura has five children: two boys at Tulane (oldest, Ari , planning on going to med school) and Noah is a freshman. Her son Kolis is in 5th grade and she has twin daughters close in age to Risa’s girls.

The Boston marathon will be Laura’s 18th marathon. She recently turned 50 and ran her first marathon as a Senior at Tufts University in 1982. She has since run marathons in NYC, Disney, Lowell, Cape Cod, and a few others but her heart belongs to Boston and she cannot imagine running a marathon without running to support a charity that involves cancer. In Laura’s own words, “...it makes me so sad that our family is shrinking, and too many have been taken too young because of this awful disease...I am very proud of Glenn and the man and father he has become. It’s not an easy job and Risa did it all, and made it look so easy”.

Support Laura’s amazing feat of marathon athleticism by donating to the Risa S Rosengard Foundation, in whose honor she is running the 2011 Boston Marathon.