Joining the cause: Gilford native running 2018 Boston Marathon in memory of grandparents

GILFORD — Bristol Whitcher, a 2010 graduate of Gilford High School, will be running in the Boston Marathon on April 16 in honor of her grandparents, Ken and Carol St. Jacques, both of whom lost their lives to cancer.

“Losing them is still by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with” said Whitcher, who says her grandparents were two of her biggest supporters in all aspects of her life. “I’m honored to run in their memories and I know they would be so proud.”

Whitcher will be running the marathon as part of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. She has pledged to raise $10,000 for the 500-member team, which collectively has set a goal of raising an incredible $5.5 million this year alone.

“I am so humbled to be part of this incredible team and to know that I’m making even a small impact in supporting cancer research and treatment,” says Whitcher, the daughter of Dennis and Torrie Whitcher of Gilford, recently passed the halfway mark in her personal fundraising effort.

She said her grandparents were truly special people, who always showed support for her even as they struggled with cancer.

“There wasn’t a volleyball match, basketball game or swim meet of mine that they weren’t at, cheering me on. My grandfather fought an exhausting, albeit rather short, six-month battle with lung cancer, before he passed away in February 2010, just months before my high school graduation. Despite this, I still don’t think he missed a match, often times coming straight from his chemo appointments to cheer us on. My teammates and I used to joke that we had to keep winning during the playoffs, as it was our games that were keeping him going. A two-time breast cancer survivor, my grandmother eventually succumbed to colon cancer in 2011. My family and I still think she just couldn’t bear to be without her beloved husband any longer – and I can’t blame her,” Whitcher wrote in a remembrance of her grandparents.

Ken St. Jacques, her grandfather, was a well-known businessman in the Laconia area, having run the Boulevard Drive-in on Weirs Boulevard and was one of the founders of Aavid Engineering. In the early days of the company he would cook breakfast for the workers and later would give out large profit-sharing bonuses in cash to the workers just before Christmas.

After high school, Whitcher attended Northeastern University and today works at Cone Communications, a Boston public relations firm that specializes in corporate social responsibility.

She is engaged to Ian Rice, a 2009 graduate of Gilford High School who is also a graduate of Northeastern and works as a mechanical engineer in Boston.

They will be married at Westin Copley Place in Boston on May 27, just six weeks after she runs in the marathon.

“It was such a hard decision, to get married at the lake where we both grew up or where we went to school and started our relationship back in 2011. We chose the city,” said Whitcher.

She said her fiancé has been incredibly supportive during her 18-week training program, which sees her running five days a week.

“We’ve done half marathons before but nothing at this distance," she said. "Despite him not actually participating in the marathon, he's joined me for every single training run, through rain, snow, cold and everything else this New England winter has thrown our way. He's been by my side, literally, every step of the way and I'm so thankful to have his support."

This year is both her first and last marathon.

Whitcher said 100 percent of every dollar raised by the DFMC team supports the Claudia Adams Barr Program in innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The DFMC team has raised $85 million for cancer research over the years.

She is relying on personal outreach to raise additional funds and that people can donate through her fundraising page at www.rundfmc.org/2018/bristolw.

“It’s my hope that someday, we’ll have a cure for this terrible disease, so no family has to deal with the heartbreak it causes – something I sadly understand all too personally. I know I’m not alone in my heartbreak, and that’s exactly why I’m running. Cancer touches too many lives but together I hope we can find an end.”