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It’s no easy feat. Every year, Suzanne Leidel, director of Special Events for BWH Development, steps into her Team Brigham “den mother” role, paving the way for more than 130 runners to complete the Boston Marathon and raise a minimum of $3,000 each for community health programs as members of Team Brigham.
She leads the coordination to set up fund-raising Web pages. She schedules training runs and lines up experts to speak to the team on injury prevention. Organizing the team cheering section, the runners’ bus to Hopkinton and the annual pasta dinner, including the generous donation of food from Tresca, all fall to her. And she maintains a crucial partnership with Fitcorp, which opens facilities to the team for training. All these efforts enable runners to concentrate on training and fund raising without worrying about details and logistics.
“Running with Team Brigham, you really get treated like royalty,” said Annie Vanderheyden, of BWH Development, who works with Leidel and ran for the first time with Team Brigham this year. “In Hopkinton, we have a tent near the start with food, Gatorade and anything you could possibly need or want, and that really helps us start the race off on a good foot.”
Leidel has been behind Team Brigham for the past seven years. “She truly embraces each runner and connects them to how the money they are raising helps so many people,” said Bill Florentino, director of Fundraising Events for Development. “We have a high rate of runners who return each year, and there are even people who can’t run but continue to fund raise because they are so committed, and that is thanks to Suzanne’s leadership.”
Vanderheyden added, “She is always there cheering us on, whether it’s by sending encouraging e-mails, coming out to team training runs or hosting a water stop on the longest training run.”
A Team Brigham runner from Pennsylvania noted how connected she felt to the team, despite her distance from Boston, thanks to the constant e-mails, cheerleading and support from Leidel.
“Suzanne thinks of everything and gives so much of herself personally to the team,” said Catherine Cavalier, assistant director of Special Events in Development. “Her calm, positive, caring personality is imbued into everything she does, and the runners really appreciate that.”