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Grafton man runs the world for wishes, raises over $100,000 - The Boston Globe


Grafton man runs the world for wishes, raises over $100,000 - The Boston Globe

The person was Bethany Parke, a former Make-A-Wish recipient who embodied the very cause that had fueled his journey.

"To run this race for Make-A-Wish, and then cross the finish line with Bethany, a wish receiver, was just incredible and very emotional," Murphy said, his voice wavering with emotion as he recalled the memory from the race last month.

Just seven days before Miami, Murphy, a 53-year-old mortgage lender, was in Antarctica with a goal of raising $50,000 for Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island as he embarked on the exclusive and difficult Great World Race. Participants in the race run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.

He ended up doubling his goal and has raised over $105,000 as of Sunday. As the number continues to climb, he hopes to hit $112,500, which is estimated to grant 10 kids their wish.

Make-A-Wish is a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses. Murphy has been a board member of the organization for two years and has been involved for almost two decades.

He first met Parke, now a junior in high school, during the October 2021 virtual Boston Marathon, which he also ran for the organization.

"A bunch of the Make-A-Wish folks came out and Bethany was one of them and she joined me for my last few miles," Murphy said. "I got to know her there, and we stayed in touch. We flew her mom and her down to Florida to finish this with me."

Murphy was part of a group of 54 eager runners who traveled the world on a trip organized by Ice Cap Adventures from Nov. 14-20. The group ran a marathon in Wolf's Fang in Antarctica, Cape Town in Africa, Perth in Australia, Cartagena in South America, Miami in North America, and both the Asian and European sides of Istanbul.

The race costs around $51,629, which covers flights, accommodations, marathon entry fees and merch, according to the website. Murphy funded it himself with the goal of raising what he had put into it.

In 2008, Murphy ran one marathon for charity. He quickly realized running was a great way to clear his head and do some good by raising money.

"A lot of times you don't want to keep going and you just find a way you dig deep and find a way," Murphy said. "If I'm training for charity, I know that kids with critical illnesses who want their wishes fulfilled don't have a choice but to fight so, if I want to end my run, I think about that, what's my reason to give up if these kids can't."

The Great Race is extremely difficult both physically and mentally, Murphy said. Sleep, recovery and nutrition were particularly hard to balance as they were running 26.2 miles a day in constantly changing environments.

"It felt like we spent more time on planes than actually running," he said.

A big bonus for Murphy was visiting Antarctica, a place he'd been curious about since he learned about it in school.

"It was kind of like being on the moon, like almost an impossible type of thing. I can't say I ever dreamed of going there, but I imagined it," he said.

It was 5 degrees with -10 degrees windchill when Murphy ran in Antarctica but he still managed to get sunburned on his lips. In his short time there, he noticed how carefully cared for the continent is.

"If we dropped a wrapper to some nutrition or something, we had to pick it up. Everything that goes out to Antarctica, comes off Antarctica. You can't leave anything there," he said. "It's just the most beautiful place I've seen."

Even though Murphy said he visited some amazing places, his real motivation all comes back to helping the kids.

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