Group Runs Across the Country for Cancer Charity

A cross-country charity run wraps up this weekend in Boston.

The “4K for Cancer” group is running from San Francisco to Boston and doing volunteer work along the way.

Their project will take 49 days, with the run completed relay-style, in order to make the incredible distance achievable in that amount of time. Each runner logs 10-16 miles per day, team members said.

When not running, the group helps out non-profits that serve people battling cancer. Wednesday, some of the runners helped with weeding and other projects at the Ronald McDonald House in Burlington, Vermont.

The final leg of the group’s run overlaps with the Boston Marathon route, and is scheduled to end with a celebration on the Boston Common at noon this Saturday.

“I know it’s definitely going to be an emotional day for the whole team, but I think specifically for those of us who are from Boston, it’s really going to mean a lot,” said Melissa Howey, a runner from Concord, Massachusetts.

“There are a bunch of us that are really big runners,” added Mia Forster, a participant in 4K for Cancer from Marblehead, Massachusetts. “For us, this is the dream. We have two months of running. I’m one of those—I love to run. So I don’t think about it as a grueling thing, but I think about it how we’re helping so many people.”