Hello, my name is Daniel Silverman and a member of the Greater Framingham Running Club. This year's Boston Marathon will be my seventh Boston and eighth overall marathon. I'm running the Boston Marathon to raise money for my 5th Dana Farber Marathon Challenge (DFMC). Last year it was my father, David Silverman, who was being treated for Cancer. Luckily he is now a survivor. This year my uncle Bill Whaselsky is being treated for cancer. With luck I will be running, with his name on my shirt as a cancer survivor. I will also run with the other names of both cancer victims and cancer survivors attached to my running shirt in honor of the survivors and in memory of the victims. I originally started running with the DFMC in memory of my Uncle, Moe Silverman. He was a Boston Marathoner and a cancer victim. I was amazed about his stories of running the Boston Marathon, and finally I had to try it myself. So, in April of 1998 after winning a marathon number from the GFRC Lottery I finished my first Boston. Which by the way, was my best marathon time so far. I volunteered for the 1999 Boston Marathon, and then somehow I luckily won another GFRC Lottery marathon number. He was diagnosed with cancer prior to the race and now I race running for him. He and my aunt made sure to cheer me on and high-five me in Framingham during the race. As I passed by him, this previously strong, healthy man could barely stand to cheer and high-five me as I passed by. His face aglow with excitement of the Boston Marathon is the face that I will always remember him by.... I applied for a spot on the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge, asking if I could join the team in honor of my uncle the cancer survivor. He passed away that November of 2000. After he passed away, I had to change my application stating I needed to run in memory of my uncle, a cancer victim. Because they were limited to the number of non-qualified marathoners, I again put my name into the GFRC Lottery. After winning for my third time ( I was now 3 out of 3), I trained with and raised money for the DFMC team, and for the last few years, I ran the Boston Marathon in his memory. I now have a growing list of people's names or cancer survivors and victims that will be on my shirt on April 18, 2005 while I run from Hopkinton to Boston again. Last year, I struggled through the heat and eventually ended up walking over ten miles to finish the marathon. As others were passing out due to the heat, I persevered, thinking how suffering during the marathon is nothing compared to what the cancer victims and survivors endured. I kept pushing myself to finish, because of all my supporters. I had to finish the race and accomplish my duty as a DFMCer. Crossing the finish line, I thought it was good that I finished the race but, I was still sad for we still haven't found a cure for cancer. Immediately, after the race, suffering from dehydration and muscle cramps (I looked like Frankenstein in the finishers chute) I starting making plans for next years race. I feel I can't stop until a cure is finally found. This year while I train for and run the Boston Marathon, please help me to fund cancer research at Dana Farber. With your support and my running we can get that much closer to the finish line; the end of cancer once and for all. For on-line donations please goto www.dfmarathon.kintera.org , under Visitor Click Support a Runner, Type in my name Daniel Silverman, and press search, Select my name to go to my donation page. For more information about the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge - goto - www.dfmarathon.kintera.org For more information about Dana Farber Cancer Institue - goto - www.dana-farber.org Sincerely, Daniel Silverman Ashland, MA