Runner combines passions in Red Sox Run to Home Base

April 19, 2010 By Courtney Llewellyn Reminder Assistant Editor EAST LONGMEADOW - Boston Red Sox fans who tuned into the first game of the season on Easter Sunday saw some interesting things a boisterous five-year-old, a good lead-off to the season with a win at Fenway and commercials touting the Run to Home Base. The charity run, in its first year, asked intrigued runners if they had ever "dreamed about running across home plate at Fenway Park as the crowd cheers you on?" and if they wanted to be a part of a unique fundraising event that will provide much needed services to local veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Julie Donahue, a mother of four from East Longmeadow, answered both those questions with a resounding yes. Donahue will be participating in the Run to Home Base 9K on May 23, which winds its way through Boston to a finish line at the home plate in Major League Baseball's oldest park. She will be one of only 3,500 runners to be a part of the race. "It's an amazing cause," Donahue said of the organizations benefiting from the race. Funds raised by runners will go to the new Red Sox Foundation and the Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program. This outreach will serve veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat stress disorders and/or traumatic brain injury and their families. The Home Base Program includes four components: confidential clinical care, outreach to veterans' families who are affected by these "signature wounds" of war, innovative research and educational programs for health providers, clergy, social workers and others. Donahue, who started running after the birth of her third child, said that most of the races she's run in the past have benefited charities, but she's never run specifically for a charity before. "The cause behind this race is what sparked my interest," she said. "This race is a little more exciting." She added that she is "definitely a Red Sox fan." "I hope I remember crossing the finish line," she joked. "It's going to be a little unbelievable. It's going to be so emotional with all the veterans and soldiers there ... I think it's going to be a really cool experience." She added that she would love to run the race in honor of East Longmeadow and one of its fallen soldiers, Mark Ecker II. Donahue needs to raise at least $1,000 to participate in the Run to Home Base and to help her in her cause, the Pizza Shoppe on Shaker Road will be hosting a fundraising evening on April 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. A raffle, which will include prizes from Lenox, Massage Therapy and prize packs from 94.7 WMAS, will take place, along with a 50/50 raffle. All are invited to attend. For more information on the Run to Home Base, visit www.runtohomebase.org.