Richard Hughes learned about Project Purple in 2019, when he and his wife worked as volunteers for the Chicago Marathon. “We were walking around the booths when my wife spotted Project Purple,” Hughes said.
He lost his mother to pancreatic cancer 35 years ago, and after hearing about how the organization gives money to patients and research, and he and his son, a law student in Philadelphia, decided to run the Chicago Marathon together.
“I was signed up for 2020, but deferred to 2021,” he said. Hughes said that given certain restraints of his employment he was unable to fundraise using mass media. “I reached out to friends and family, it was all direct,” he said. “Some people asked about it when they heard what I was doing.”
He also said that he tries to average about 32 miles run a week, and that he and his son run together whenever they can. “We’re going to run our last long practice two weeks before the race,” he said. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with the group, Dino and everyone are very responsive and helpful.”
