2024: The Year in Review

Partners and friends,

Another year is behind us – in just the blink of an eye, it often seems. So, it’s an appropriate time to ask: How are we doing? And, no less importantly: What are we doing?

I’m glad you asked. Although the 26.2 Foundation remains a modestly-sized nonprofit, it’s one that, I believe, frequently punches well above its weight. And that, in no small measure, is a direct benefit of close partnerships. Whether it be financial, emotional, physical or something else, your support this past year has allowed us to achieve some significant milestones in our mission: advancing the global sport of marathoning while harnessing the power of the human spirit and its capacity for good.

So, above all, let me say, “Thank you.” You enable us and make our work possible. I encourage you to take a look below at some of the brightest spots that illuminated our 2024 calendar.

The International Marathon Center

Our signature project, establishing an International Marathon Center (IMC) to be based in Hopkinton, MA, is our primary focus and will remain so over the coming years. To ensure that we’re making rock-solid strategic decisions when it comes to its development, we recently partnered with Elevativ, who are now completing a comprehensive market and economic study of the project’s future operating potential and the project’s impact on local and regional towns and cities.

We also quietly launched, in 2024, a capital campaign to finance the cost of the IMC’s construction – through private, not public, funds.

Programs

Our vision is to become the point of connection for the world’s marathon community by honoring the history and legacy of the marathon; by celebrating outstanding individual achievements; and by inspiring a commitment to wellness. Our programs reflect that vision, from the global (e.g., the IMC) to the intensely local (e.g., the Hopkinton Hiller 5K).

New programs such as ‘Celebrating 100 Starts’ recognized, in April, a century of Boston Marathon starts in Hopkinton, MA. (Previously, the race started in neighboring Ashland.) With premier sponsor Dell Technologies, and working closely with the Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA), we honored the anniversary through a celebratory breakfast, the ‘Winged Foot’ art and auction, a marathon mural, and more.

Once again, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) generously supported our Team Inspire, granting us invitational-entry bibs as part of their annual allocation. This year, our team represented six countries and raised an incredible $225,000 to support our programs. The Foundation’s charity bib program expanded in 2024 to include the TCS New York City Marathon. Looking ahead to 2025, we are thrilled to announce our participation in the TCS Sydney Marathon, presented by ASICS—recently named the seventh Abbott World Marathon Major. This marks Team Inspire’s first international race, a significant milestone for our global mission.

As someone who lives and drives in Massachusetts, I’m also proud to remind you of the launch this past year of the 26.2 charity license plate . By purchasing a 26.2 plate, you contribute to the realization of our vision, inspiring future generations to rise to the marathon challenge. The funds raised from the sale of the plates will directly support the development of the IMC. Interested? Find more details here.

Our programs often reach across national boundaries, and few initiatives represent that better than the tradition of presenting the B.A.A. with gold olivebranch wreaths to crown the four first-place winners of the Boston Marathon. This gift of Greece, today celebrating its 40th anniversary and made possible by the Alpha Omega Council and the 26.2 Foundation, has been presented to the B.A.A. by the Consul General of Greece in Boston during the Boston Marathon Wreath Ceremony . In recent years, the wreaths have been donated in memory of Stylianos Kyriakides to honor his heroic 1946 Boston Marathon win.

In the same vein, the 26.2 Foundation helps create and support education programs within the community, the region and internationally. These initiatives include The Examined Life, a professional program for teachers designed to strengthen Greek studies in Boston-area schools. The Foundation works closely with the program organizers to identify and sponsor outstanding educators in Massachusetts’ MetroWest region, notably in the towns of Ashland and Hopkinton.

The Foundation also works closely with the Alpha Omega Council on the Marathon Education Program, which promotes the Hellenic roots of the Boston Marathon and uses the marathon and Greek history as a platform to teach middle and high school students about ancient Greece, the roots of democracy, and its lessons for civic participation today. Hopkinton, MA is often used as an incubator for many education programs that are then offered to towns in the region and to Hopkinton’s twin cities of Marathon, Greece and Xiamen, China.

At the very local level, the Foundation has been supporting the Hiller 5K initiative since 2019. This elective phys-ed course for Hopkinton, MA Middle School students teaches cardiovascular fitness and other critical life and health skills, including goal setting and running safety, and culminates in an annual five-kilometer road race. Since we began supporting it, more than 730 students have completed the program.

Building a Strong Foundation

We have a lot of work ahead of us before the IMC opens its doors to the public, particularly when it comes to building awareness of our organization and its objectives. It can be daunting. And so, we’ve taken a number of steps in the last year to accelerate that process. These steps aren’t headline news, but they are critical to success.

To that end, we’ve partnered with Sustainable Digital for strategic communications counsel, such as web development and social media outreach. You may have seen some of their work recently in your Instagram feed.

We were selected by Dell Technologies’ Non-Profit Program to receive pro bono strategic marketing and communications advice from their global team, which helped us refine our key messaging. And thanks to Kim Chisholm, our executive director for development and institutional advancement who oversees all of these marketing activities, we now have a stronger presence at industry events and exhibitions, including Boston’s Run Show and the annual Running USA conference. Throughout, Kim has greatly extended and strengthened our partner relationships across the board.

As mentioned above, none of this would have been possible without your support.
We extend our sincere thanks and wish you the very best for 2025.

Sincerely,

Timothy Kilduff, President
26.2 Foundation