SALEM — Two nurses who are usually bustling around the Salem Hospital emergency room will be hustling up Heartbreak Hill on Monday in their first Boston Marathon.
Patsy Emberley and Kate Crowley will be running to raise money for the pediatric hematology-oncology program at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children.
"We both have worked at Salem Hospital for a while, and everybody's really excited for us," said Crowley, 29. "Unfortunately, they can't all be there — some of them have to work. But there will be a good turnout throughout the course."
In addition to working together, both women are members of the Wicked Running Club of Salem, and, for the marathon team, they were both partnered with 8-year-old Nick DeFelice, an MGH patient who is battling a type of cancer called neuroblastoma.
Nick and his family, who live in Dracut, will be with the Salem nurses on the eve of the marathon for a pasta dinner at the Seaport Hotel in Boston. And on Marathon Monday, the little boy will meet them at the top of Heartbreak Hill — considered the most challenging part of the course between the 20- and 21-mile marks in Newton — to cheer them on.
"He's just awesome," said Emberley, who turned 55 this year and likes to joke that "55 is the speed limit" and she promises to "keep it under the speed limit" during the marathon.
Both women have their reasons for braving their first marathon.
When Emberley's mother was diagnosed with end-stage ovarian cancer about four years ago, the veteran nurse made the decision to bring her mother home and care for her at the end of her life.
"I'm a nurse, and it's the hardest thing I ever did," Emberley said. "It was the best, but the hardest."
During her mother's illness, Emberley would go for runs to relieve the stress.
"I never was a runner before that," said Emberley, who lives in Nahant. "So I just kept running, and I liked it. It's very social, too. A lot of people we work with at the hospital run, and it's kind of a great equalizer. Then I decided I wanted to run the marathon, and I put it on my bucket list."
Crowley spent a lot of time at Mass General as a child and has vivid memories of the staff treating her sister when she was on the brink of permanent kidney failure. The Mass General nurses and doctors later saved her aunt's life, too, when she was in a coma.
"Being there as a kid and going through all that made me want to do what I do today," said Crowley, who lives in Danvers. "I want to give back to (Mass General)."
Crowley and Emberley have already raised well over $10,000 between the two of them for the cause.
The training has been a challenge, particularly their last big running stint before the race when they clocked 40 miles in a week, and they are anxious and excited to hit the 26.2-mile course Monday.
"I'm hoping I can finish in less than five hours," Crowley said, "but I'd like to just finish upright and with a smile on my face."
"We won't be able to take very good care of the people of Salem next Tuesday (the day after the marathon)," Emberley quipped with a laugh.
"It's been just amazing already," she added.
Lifestyles Editor Amanda McGregor can be reached at 978-338-2665, amcgregor@salemnews.com and on Twitter @AmandaSalemNews.
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