Team HOPe’s Inspirational Run at the 2020 Boston Marathon

Four strangers came together — Jessica Pappagianopoulos, Lisa Cowgill, Sungkar Houtama and Ornruedi Na-Ranong — on a shared journey to run the 124th Boston Marathon for the first time, while raising money for HOPe. Each has a unique connection to HOPe’s mission. Jessie started as a Best Buddy for HOPe’s members while studying at Stonehill College. Her experiences led to a career working at a nonprofit that supports adolescents on the autism spectrum. Lisa and Sungkar’s connection was personal, both having family members on the autism spectrum. Ornruedi combined her dream to run the Boston Marathon with her compassion and altruism to help those in need. Their drive to support HOPe was to ensure our ability to provide best-in-class programs and services, increase advocacy efforts, while bringing relief to families caring for a child with a disability.

Despite the postponement and eventual transition of the 2020 Boston Marathon to a virtual event, Team HOPe rose to the challenge completing their 26.2 mile journey across states and across the globe, all while raising over $55,000. They called on friends, families and coworkers to support their efforts and as a result, increased Boston Marathon fundraising to support HOPe’s programs by 17%.

During 10+ months of training and planning a virtual race, friendships grew and a unique bond formed between two of Team HOPe’s runners in particular, Jessie and Lisa. They committed to run and support each other during the virtual marathon as they crossed their respective finish lines in North Carolina and Illinois — 929 miles and 1 time zone apart. Utilizing technology and social media, 40+ people joined to cheer them on in real time and included family, friends, teammate Sungkar all the way from Indonesia, and HOPe’s young members and staff. Jessie chronicled their journey in a video that captures their hardships and triumphs, beginning with arduous training and ending at their finish lines. She created this video “to document her lifelong dream to follow in her father's footsteps by running the Boston Marathon.” For both, they wanted to “share their unique training journey; to thank friends, family and corporate sponsor Edelstein for supporting them 30+ weeks; and most of all to show the importance of resiliency - even during a pandemic, they found a way to share and complete this experience together, while apart.”