Friends train for 9K run for charity

NORTH CANAAN — It was the most common of New Year’s resolutions: a determination to get in shape. Friends Becky Cahill and Erin Fowler decided to take up running. A relatively easy choice when in your early 20s, but a challenge nonetheless. Doing it together would spur them on.

No sooner did they start than Cahill’s husband, Don, came across an even better motivation than fitness.

“He’s a big Red Sox fan, and he goes to their online site all the time,†Cahill said. “He saw it the day it came out. We decided instantly we would do it.â€

She was talking about the 2010 Run to Home Base, a 9K (that’s 5.6 miles) race that will take place in Boston on May 23. Its name is far more than symbolic. The finish line is actually home plate in Fenway Park.

Proceeds from the run go to The Home Base Program, a partnership between the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital. Its aim is to make life better for servicemen and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and now suffer from combat stress disorders and traumatic brain injuries.

According to the foundation’s Web site, about one in five deployed soldiers returns with depression or a stress disorder. About the same number experience concussions or brain injuries. They are called “invisible wounds,†made worse by the lack of recognition by those outside of health care, and even by the denial of their existence by other soldiers.

Timing is everything, and further inspiration came in the form of Caleb Huff, who grew up here in North Canaan. He is Don’s best friend. Huff left last week for Wisconsin for 40 days of training to serve in Afghanistan.

“He leaves in April, and he’ll be there for a whole year,†Cahill said. “Hopefully, he will be OK and never need the kind of services we are raising money for.â€

At the Web site runtohomebase.org, Cahill and Fowler are collecting sponsors. Their page includes this quote from Muhammad Ali: “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.â€

Neither one of the two friends claims to be very athletic. But they have thrown themselves into an exercise regimen that includes three days a week on treadmills at the YMCA. The next three months are carefully planned out to get them up to that 5.6 miles.

“It’s not going to be easy,†Cahill said. “But this is nothing compared to what the soldiers go through. We just remind ourselves of that.â€

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