Boston, MA
Fund-raising philanthropist Susan Hurley, who died at 62, was Boston’s marathon woman – The Boston Globe
And then there was her personal approach to preparing first-time marathoners to toe the starting line. Over the years she took thousands of runners on countless miles of training runs leading up to Boston Marathon day.
“It’s fun,” she said in an interview posted on YouTube. “I mean, this is what I live for. I want to see people succeed. This is life-changing for them to be able to run a marathon and be inspired by a charity and earn their spot at the starting line that way. For them, it’s the Super Bowl of running.”
Ms. Hurley, who helped raise her final millions while running her last two Boston Marathons after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, died Nov. 1. She was 62 and lived in North Andover.
“I always love to be known as Boston’s biggest cheerleader,” Ms. Hurley, a cheerleader in high school and later for the New England Patriots, said in the 2020 YouTube interview with Thom Gilligan, founder and chief executive of Marathon Tours & Travel.
Trading football field sidelines for road racecourses, she cheered on year after year of runners, even while running in the marathons herself.
“In addition to being everyone’s cheerleader, she was everyone’s mom. She really cared about all her runners,” said Sarah Wessmann, team captain and a member of each year’s marathon contingent for Last Call Foundation. The charity, inspired by the heroic life and line-of-duty death in 2014 of her then-fiancé, Boston firefighter Michael Kennedy, funds education and research to advance firefighter safety.
Near the end of each Boston Marathon, Ms. Hurley’s son Ryan McGillivray recalled, she could be spotted with her arm around the waist of another runner — helping a member of her charity team or even a stranger whose strength was fading.
From the beginning of marathon preparations, Ms. Hurley stressed that all runners should have “their Boylston Street moment, hearing the crowd roar and seeing the finish line in the distance, and the happiness that brings,” said Ryan, who lives in Wrentham and is vice president of operations for DMSE Sports, the event management firm founded by his father, Dave McGillivray.
During weeks of training runs, Ms. Hurley helped newcomers prepare for the vagaries of the potentially punishing weather, and for the constancy of Heartbreak Hill.
In February she would hold the fund-raising “Superhero 17” – a 17-mile run along the marathon course in which participants ran dressed as superheroes, their merriment a distraction from the arduous training workout.
And Ms. Hurley “didn’t just run the marathon. She had you learn about the course and the history and why things matter,” said Wessmann, who was among the runners Ms. Hurley helped train.
Ms. Hurley made sure runners knew about legendary Olympian Johnny Kelley, who completed the Boston Marathon nearly 60 times. She led training runs to Kelley’s statue in Newton so everyone could pay their respects.
“It’s a cliché,” Wessmann said, “but she really did put the fun in fund-raising.”
The third of four sisters, Susan Ann Hurley was born on April 8, 1963, and grew up in North Reading.
Her mother, Sylvia Bidmead Hurley, was a real estate title examiner, and her father, James Hurley, was assistant register at Middlesex Family and Probate Court.
A cheerleading squad champion at North Reading High School, Ms. Hurley became a runner early on.
“I started running when I used to miss the bus in high school and I haven’t stopped,” she told Boston Magazine just before the 2013 marathon. “I’m proud to say I am a person who has worked out her whole life and never stopped and rarely missed a day.”
Ms. Hurley, who attended Emerson College, formerly was married to Dave McGillivray, with whom she had two sons, Ryan and Max.
She was as enthusiastic a mother as she was training runners and raising millions, said Max, who lives in Los Angeles.
“Energetic doesn’t even cover it,” he said. “Her energy, her light, her celebratory nature was just infectious. Everyone will say it: she was a cheerleader in every sense of the word.”
Ms. Hurley found ways to make the marathon experience possible for participants facing a wide variety of hurdles, from spinal cord injuries to living without homes.
“The list goes on and on,” Max said, “and no person, in my eyes, was ever turned away from her light.”
Russell Hoyt, president and chief executive of Team Hoyt and the Hoyt Foundation, said Ms. Hurley was instrumental in helping the family organizations expand their reach and ensure their legacy after the deaths of his father, Dick Hoyt, and brother, Rick Hoyt, who had pioneered duo wheelchair road racing.
Russell said Ms. Hurley helped the organizations reach beyond the Boston Marathon to other major events, and to launch the Dick and Judy Hoyt “Yes You Can” inclusion grants, named for his parents, to assist families in getting their children with disabilities included in activities alongside non-disabled peers.
“Sue helped us do something new and more powerful,” Hoyt said, adding that “she was the type of person who made you want to be a better person yourself, just by spending time with her.”
A service has been held for Ms. Hurley, who in addition to her two sons, mother, and former husband leaves three sisters, Lisa First of Alvin, Texas, Mary of Norfolk, and Cheryl Cuoco of Wrentham; her fiancé, Barry Foland of Owings Mills, Md.; and three stepchildren, Elle, Luke, and Chloe McGillivray, all of North Andover.
In August, Ms. Hurley spoke at the opening of Gronk Playground on the Charles River Esplanade, which was funded by her friend Rob Gronkowski, the former star New England Patriots tight end.
Gronkowski was overcome with emotion more than once, speaking a few feet away from where she sat next to Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
When it was her turn to speak, Ms. Hurley thanked Gronkowski for his philanthropy and floated an idea: “Can we just make it official and sign him for a day so he can retire a Patriot?”
Several days after she died, Kraft and Gronkowski announced they would honor her wish.
On Instagram, Gronkowski wrote that “her strength and resilience were truly inspirational,” and added that “without Susan, there would be no Gronk Playground.”
In a CBS Boston interview posted on YouTube in 2023, a year after she was diagnosed, Ms. Hurley was back to her energetic pace, managing 500 runners and pushing that year’s fund-raising past the $4 million mark.
The cancer diagnosis had come as a shock, she said. A doctor broke the news a day after she had completed a 17-mile training run. In that interview, she was grateful for a reprieve treatment had brought.
“It is a miracle. I believe it’s God’s hand,” she said. “I really, truly, truly believe that there is a plan for me and I’m not ready to leave this planet and leave this earth. There’s work for me to do here.”
Bryan Marquard can be reached at bryan.marquard@globe.com.
BOSTON — The Boston Bruins said Thursday they are retiring Patrice Bergeron’s No. 37 as part of a ceremony next season.
The date will be shared later, following the NHL schedule release that is expected next month.
Bergeron is set to join fellow 2011 Stanley Cup champion Zdeno Chara with his number in the rafters. Bergeron, when it happens, will be the 14th player to have his number retired by the storied franchise.
He spent his entire 19-year career in the league with the Bruins, playing 1,464 games counting the regular season and playoffs. That included the title run in 2011 and more trips to the final in ’13 and ’19.
“Patrice was the kind of rare, generational talent that every team wanted,” owner Jeremy Jacobs said in a statement. “He was a deftly skilled playmaker and the undeniable greatest defensive forward in the NHL’s history. But it was the leadership he provided on the ice and in the locker room that made him truly stand apart and an all-time legend of the Boston Bruins.”
Bergeron succeeded Chara as captain in 2020 and served three seasons in that role before retiring. He called this an honor that is difficult to put into words.
“When I arrived in Boston as an 18-year-old, I could never have imagined receiving this recognition one day,” Bergeron said. “I have always believed that any success I had was only possible because of the people around me. I was fortunate to play alongside incredible teammates, learn from outstanding coaches and staff and be supported by an organization that believed in me from the very beginning.”
Craig Ferguson set out on foot from Los Angeles with a remarkable goal: to walk 3,500 miles across America. It took him 109 days.
Last week, I had the privilege of joining him for his final steps into Boston. In those first moments after completing his journey, I asked him what the experience had been like. Without hesitation, he called it the hardest thing he had ever done.
What began as a mission to raise money for SAMH, a Scottish charity that provides mental health and social care support, became something far greater. Along the way, Craig inspired thousands of people and helped raise more than $1 million. His arrival in Boston also came amid the excitement surrounding Scotland’s appearance in the World Cup, giving his home country even more reason to celebrate.
Craig’s commitment to mental health advocacy is perhaps best expressed in his own words: “Mental health doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from. It can meet you along the road, sometimes when you least expect it.”
Those words resonate deeply with me. I was raised by a mother who faced significant mental health challenges, and I know firsthand how important support systems can be for individuals and families. Organizations like SAMH provide hope when people need it most. Equally important is continuing to normalize conversations about mental health and recognizing that it is a health issue that touches every community and every walk of life.
There are countless routes Craig could have taken and many cities where he could have chosen to conclude this extraordinary journey. The fact that he finished in Boston is something we should be proud of.
Boston has always been a city defined by resilience, compassion, and perseverance. Those qualities are why “Boston Strong” means so much to so many people. Craig Ferguson may be Scottish by birth, but through his determination, his generosity, and his commitment to helping others, he has embodied that spirit.
As we welcome him to our beautiful and sports-loving city, we thank him for reminding us that even the longest journeys begin with a single step, and that no one should have to walk through life’s struggles alone.
Craig Ferguson is Boston Strong.
Anne Brensley is the Republican-endorsed candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.
“Leave your car at home, and take the T,” said Deirdre Habershaw, MBTA’s deputy chief operating officer, at a press conference held at Seaport.
Six more tall ships are expected than the number that came during the last Tall Sail Boston event in June 2017. Boston is the tour’s last port after it stops at New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York City.
Organizers expect the visitors to gather along the waterfront throughout the week, but anticipate the highest number on July 11 for the Parade of Sail, the event’s centerpiece.
During it, dozens of vessels enter Boston Harbor in a coordinated procession. The USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat, and the U.S Coast Guard’s Eagle, the training vessel used to train future Coast Guard officers, will lead the fleet. They’ll be followed by ships representing countries like Argentina, Colombia, India, Italy, Portugal, and Uruguay, celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary by making it a global gathering.
Along with increased subway service that day, there will also be shuttle connections linking major lines to waterfront access points, transit officials said. Dedicated shuttle services will be provided from the Red Line’s JFK/UMass station to the Castle Island parking lot and from the Orange Line’s Sullivan station to the Charlestown Navy Yard.
“On July 11, all ferries will be suspended to accommodate the security infrastructure within the harbor,” Habershaw said. “All ferry routes will operate on normal schedules from July 12 through the 16th.”
A key infrastructure addition this year is the deployment of temporary dock extensions at multiple waterfront points, including near the courthouse dock area and behind Leader Bank Pavilion.
“We’re putting a large system to extend it to accommodate more tall ships in the harbor,” said David Choate, director of operations of Sail Boston, adding that the construction of said docks starts next week.
Boston Police Superintendent Lanita Cullinane said that all laws will be enforced throughout the event, including bans on open containers, public alcohol consumption, marijuana use, drones, and oversized bags in viewing areas.
Sail Boston will be on both land and at sea, so security personnel will include city and state officers, as well as the Boston Police Department’s harbor unit.
“There’s going to be some things that we have to do to cater it to the different areas where the events are taking place,” Cullinane said during an interview after the conference.
Nick Gove, chief of streets for the City of Boston, said during the event that there will be temporary road closures along the waterfront in the North End, South Boston, East Boston, and the Navy Yard in Charlestown. He recommended that residents who live near the waterfront review the closures on event days.
“Public works and transportation team will provide supplemental sanitation services, parking enforcement, and traffic management to help keep our streets clean, safe, and efficient,” Gove said.
This year, a major digital component will support crowd control: a dedicated mobile application that will provide real-time updates on ship locations, boarding schedules, transit conditions, and crowd density indicators. The app went live on Wednesday.
“If we know, for example, Commonwealth Pier is very crowded, but Charlestown Navy Yard is not, we would put that sort of public-facing information up to direct people where they don’t have to wait,” Choate said during an interview.
Visitors will have the opportunity to tour many of the vessels for free during the week, although boarding procedures and availability will vary by ship. Many of the larger vessels will dock in and around the Seaport, including near Fan Pier and the Boston Fish Pier, making the neighborhood the center of activity during the celebration.
“We are prepared for all of the events that are taking place over the summer,” Cullinane said. “And we’ll continue to operate as we have been.”
Aayushi Datta can be reached at aayushi.datta@globe.com.
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