Thousands participate in 36th annual Jimmy Fund Walk in Boston

Thousands of people came together on a beautiful Sunday for the 36th annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, hoping to raise $9.5 million for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The fundraising walk has raised more than $176 million in its 35-year history and supports all forms of adult and pediatric care and cancer research at Dana-Farber, one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment. Last year’s walk broke fundraising records by raising more than $9.4 million.

An estimated 8,500 walkers, including patients, survivors, family members, caregivers and Dana-Farber faculty and staff, were expected to walk up to 26.2 miles along the historic Boston Marathon course.

The Jimmy Fund Walk is the only organized walk permitted to use the famed course and gives participants a choice between four distance options: 5K (~3.2 miles from Dana-Farber’s Longwood Medical Campus); 10K (~7 miles from Newton); Half Marathon (~13.4 miles from Wellesley) or Marathon (~27 miles from Hopkinton).

Meet Opry, a 1.5-year-old golden retriever who’s the newest staff member at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund Clinic in Boston.

Hundreds of volunteers lined the route to provide refreshments throughout the day. There were also posters of inspiring DFCI patients — called Jimmy Fund Walk Heroes — that appeared along the course to provide motivation to walkers.

Additionally, buildings around Boston were set to be lit up to show their support for the walk, including City Hall, TD Garden, the Prudential Tower, 888 Boylston, W Boston, the Hub on Causeway Office Tower, and Boston Harbor Hotel & Rowe’s Wharf.

Due to ongoing construction, all four routes concluded at the Jimmy Fund Walk Finish Line by the corner of Charles and Beacon Street, where there were was a celebration with food, entertainment, and more.