Why I'm Running the Boston Marathon: Dr. Phoebe Yager

LEXINGTON, MA – When Dr. Phoebe Yager runs the Boston Marathon, she does it for those undertaking a "marathon they never signed up to run." The Lexington resident is a member of Massachusetts General Hospital's Pediatric Hematology Oncology team, which raises money for the hospital's youngest cancer patients.

Yager, the chief of Critical Care Medicine at MGH, has been at the hospital since 2000 and has finished the Boston Marathon eight times. Her department often cares for the sickest patients, suffering from complications from their disease.

It's her patients that drive her to run.

"I've been so inspired by these families and I think running on the team was a way for me as another human being to make a contribution to so many of the amazing programs and research that I see my colleagues doing," Yager said. "You see the impact it has on patients."

The Pediatric Hematology Oncology team raises hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for pediatric cancer research. Since its inception, it has raised about $12 million. And the glue that holds the team together is team leader and founder Dr. Howard Weinstein, Yager said.

"To be one person who's part of this team led by this incredible man, dedicated and passionate about shepherding families through their worst nightmare, I feel very privileged," Yager said. "To be a part of that team. And to have a leader like Howard Weinstein."

It's that infectious team spirit that turned her from "not a big runner" – her words – to someone who tries to run one or two marathons a year. When Yager realized the impact a group can have on advancing important causes, she "caught the bug."

"What I'm doing really pales in comparison to the marathon that [families] never signed up to run," she said. "I'm very inspired by children and their families."

>>>Click here to donate under Phoebe's name.

Photo submitted by MGH