By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING – Samantha Galvin has set an ambitious goal of running her first Boston Marathon this year while raising $12,000 to prevent the tragic loss of firefighters’ lives.
The recent college graduate is the daughter of North Reading Deputy Fire Chief Barry Galvin and Laurianne Galvin. Growing up around the fire station, she has heard plenty of stories from the firefighters over the years, the good as well as the tragic. She also remembers the 9-alarm fire in Boston’s Back Bay 11 years ago that took the lives of two Boston firefighters, Michael Kennedy, who was a former U.S. Marine sergeant, and Lt. Ed Walsh, in March of 2014.
This past fall, when she was on a training run, she stopped by the fire station to get a bottle of water from her dad and bumped into call firefighter Jeff Strong. They chatted about her goal of one day running the Boston Marathon with the understanding that since the qualifying times are so difficult her best option would be to run for a charity. Strong suggested the Last Call Foundation, and that’s when it all clicked.
Samantha remembered that her dad and other firefighters on duty at the station that day had heard “the last call” of both Kennedy and Walsh. Tragically, their calls to “charge the line,” which means to send water through the fire hose, went unanswered. Although water was being pumped through the hose, the intense heat of the fire had cause the hose to fail behind them, at the stairs, and therefore the water could not reach the two firefighters who had gone into the building to search for a resident reported to be inside a basement unit. Sixteen other firefighters were injured in the blaze that day too.
They were so moved by the tragedy that Galvin and many of his colleagues attended their memorial services.
Lt. Walsh also had a special connection to North Reading because his aunt, uncle and cousins, Susan and Joe McAuliffe, and their four kids, Brian, Lauren, Kerin and Tim, are longtime residents of town.
Samantha was accepted as a member of the Last Call Foundation’s Boston Marathon team. Founded by Kennedy’s mother, Kathy Crosby-Bell, the Last Call Foundation (LCF) is dedicated to ensuring that firefighters have all the safety equipment they need to both protect the public and to come home safely after every shift.
Samantha said the LCF is actively raising funds for safer turnout gear, mental health services, cancer research and safer fire hoses that won’t burn through so rapidly during intense blazes.
To date, she has raised $4,000 toward her $12,000 commitment to the foundation.
To help her meet her goal, her dad is auctioning off three rides to three lucky winners from the town’s elementary schools in Engine 7, which is an antique North Reading fire truck that he bought several years ago.
The one-day auction will be held online next Wednesday, March 19, from 6-8 p.m. The highest bidders at the end of the two-hour auction will win the trip around town with their child. To participate in the auction, go to:
https://lastcallfoundation.betterworld.org/auctions/north-reading-fire-engine-ride
https://lastcallfoundation.betterworld.org/auctions/north-reading-fire-engine-ride (Cangiano Photography)
Samantha reminds bidders to select the correct school for their student — the Hood, Batchelder or Little School. Samantha is a 2013 graduate of the Hood School so she hopes her fellow Hound dogs will consider making a bid!
Although Samantha has competed two half-marathons in her running career, the 26.2 mile jaunt from Hopkinton to Boston will be her longest run ever. Leading up to the 129th Boston Marathon, which is on Monday, April 21, she has connected with other charity runners through the Boston Marathon to participate in training runs.
Interestingly, she said the person who coordinates the charity runners for the Boston Marathon is Susan Hurley, who also grew up in North Reading and graduated from NRHS.
Most recently, on March 1, Samantha ran the last 17 miles of the Boston Marathon course with other charity runners.
“It was called ‘The Superhero 17,’ which was a long practice run,” she said.
“I really enjoyed it. Granted, I was running a slower practice pace, but I felt really good and the hills gave me something to focus on. Instead of focusing on the whole 17 miles that I had to do it was more ‘let me get to the top of this hill,’ and then I get a downhill, which is nice. And then I just got to get to the next hill,” she said.
She proudly wore her “Dork Strong” t-shirt from the Last Call Foundation on this run. “Michael Kennedy, who is the firefighter they started the foundation on behalf of, was nicknamed ‘Kennedork’ and they started just calling him ‘Dork,’” she said.
Asked what she likes most about running, she said: “It’s time you get to give yourself to both better yourself physically and think things through. I feel like we are always being bombarded by media in this time and it gives you time to think and reflect and calm down. You can also run alone or you can run with a community, which is great.”
For those who would like to support Samantha’s run, they can visit her GivenGain page to make a donation at https://www.givengain.com/project/samantha-raising-funds-for-last-call-foundation-89915
