I’m always impressed whenever Boston hits the news, and people come out of the woodwork to support their city. So many celebrities hail from in or around the area. They’re always vocal about how proud they are of their hometown. Whether they’re talking about Deflategate or the Boston marathon tragedy of 2013, Boston peeps represent. They grew up watching the marathon from the sidelines. Some of them run the race every year while many of us dream of doing the same.

Uzo Aduba grew up in the Boston area and will run the marathon next month for charity. She’s raising money and awareness for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The cause means a lot to Uza because she recently lost a family member and close pal to the disease. This will be a very emotional experience:

Running the Boston Marathon is deeply personal for the actress, a Medfield, Massachusetts, native and Boston University graduate who is running the race with friends including a pal she’s been close to since the first grade.

“It feels like the right thing to do,” she says of her decision to run the race this year, just two years after the bombings. “It still feel pretty raw, and with [the trial] it almost feels like a Band-Aid getting pulled back again. That’s where I grew up, where I learned what a marathon even was … to be a part of it, it feels particularly special.”

She also chose to run on behalf of Dana-Farber for personal reasons since losing a woman she considered almost like a second mother to breast cancer last fall, as well as a cousin to cancer two years earlier. Aduba is raising money specifically for the institute’s Claudia Adams Barr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which studies potential causes of cancer at the most fundamental molecular and genetic level.

“I just felt like too many good lives are leaving this Earth over something I want to see change with cancer research,” she explained. “When Dana-Farber invited me to be part of their team, it felt like a no-brainer. I just wanted to do something other than cry.”

To prepare, the New York-based Aduba says she spent the winter running on a treadmill in her building four to five days a week. Now that the snow is finally beginning to melt, she is eager to begin outdoor runs this week. She’s also about to begin work with a trainer to help develop core strength through Pilates and other techniques, which she hopes will build her stamina on race day.

Aduba says it’s too early to anticipate how she will feel once she crosses the finish line in Boston, but knows she will be thinking of the people she’s lost, who will be on her mind every mile.

“It’s not the finish line I think about,” she says. “It’s the number of thank-you’s to these amazing souls I know who I get to speak to in my dreams.”

[From People]

Running a marathon sounds insane for anyone who hasn’t done it, and it also sounds insane to anyone who just hit mile 20. The journey is worth completion, whether you’re running for selfish reasons or something much larger. Uzo’s supporting a cause that has touched the lives of virtually everyone on Earth. She’s gonna kick some tush.

Some semi-related news. Natalie Dormer will run the NYC marathon this fall as a NYRR Team for Kids ambassador. Last year, Nat ran the London marathon in 3:50. NYC’s route is hillier than London’s, but she has a shot at a personal record. I want to go running with Uzo and Natalie!

Photos courtesy of WENN