McGillivray Returns to Fenway After 30 Years of Running

| August 11, 2008 | Around Medford, Sports Highlights | No Comments

Legendary Medford Runner Celebrating Anniversary of Cross-Country Run; Raises Money for Jimmy Fund

Dave McGillivray finishing a solo cross-country run at Fenway 30 years ago

Above, a 24-year-old Dave McGillivray finishes his solo 3,452-mile cross-country run at Fenway Park 30 years ago. Courtesy photo.

Thirty years ago this month Medford native Dave McGillivray took a solo run across the country from Medford, Oregon to Medford, Massachusetts- that’s 3,452 miles- to raise money for the Jimmy Fund.

McGillivray, a Medford High School graduate and currently BAA Boston Marathon Race Director and President of DMSE Sports, Inc., was just twenty-four at the time and since then has logged literally thousands of miles in the name of charity.

On August 14, McGillivray’s 54th birthday, he will continue his tradition of running one mile for each of his birth years by running from Fenway Park to Hopkinton and back to Fenway to raise even more money for the Jimmy Fund.

McGillivray will be honored at the park on that day by the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute during the pre-game ceremony. He will commemorate the occasion by also running a lap inside Fenway and be met at home plate by family and friends.

“To be honored by the Jimmy Fund means a great deal to me. The Jimmy Fund, and the late Ken Coleman, gave me a chance to accomplish something that even I didn’t know was possible until I actually took those final steps inside Fenway Park. To run across the country was my dream, and to couple that with raising awareness and money that might save the life of a child was a tremendous responsibility which I did not take lightly,” said McGillivray.

McGillivray co-authored with Linda Glass Fechter The Last Pick, which intimately recounts the mental and physical obstacles he faced along life’s road which led him to his 1978 run. Fechter says the story has inspired countless people to reach their own goals. All proceeds to directly to McGillivray’s foundation, which supports programs that use running to promote physical fitness in children.

– InsideMedford.com