Connie Venskus, 76, of Rumford stands at her home in 2020 with a banner announcing the annual Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk, which she has participated in for the past 12 years. She will do so again Oct. 1, walking all 26 miles within 2 miles of her home, which she has done the past three years. Submitted photo
RUMFORD — For the fourth year in a row, Connie Venskus of Rumford is participating virtually in the 26-mile Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk on Oct. 1.
The 76-year-old has been part of the fundraiser since 2011. This year, she will walk again, all within 2 miles of her home in the Virginia section of town, the same area where she has been training.
Over the past 12 years, Venskus has raised $18,820 for the Jimmy Fund to support of research and patient care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where the walk is held. She attained pacesetter status by raising at least $1,500 a year. Last year she raised $3,200.
“I feel very blessed to be able to do this again, especially at my age!” she said. “Being so close to raising so much money in just 12 years so far is incredible. Much of the funds raised have come from family and friends, many of them from right here in our little River Valley area. “
Venskus said her passion for the walk stems from those around her.
“I have many people I know and loved who have been touched in one way or another by cancer,” she said. “I also know some who have benefited directly from the research and/or compassionate care provided by Dana Farber. Being able to do this in my own small way to be part of the solution has brought me great joy.
“When I walk, especially on the day of the Jimmy Fun Walk, I think of and pray for those who are going through this fight and for those who have lost the battle,” she said.
Last year, Venskus finished in 7 hours, 2 minutes, a few minutes slower than the previous year.
“Some people have called it a race when I talk to them about it, and I tell them it is not a race,” she said. “But in a way it is. It is a race against myself. It is a way to spur myself on as I walk and get it done.”
Typically, Venskus said her walk includes going to Adley’s Auto Sales and Service from Prospect Avenue and back and loops onto Front Street and Crescent Avenue. She also goes out on Prospect Avenue and around Sunnyside Terrace, then U.S. Route 2, from Sunnyside Terrace up to Royal Avenue with several loops around the River Valley Crossing parking lot.
She uses an app on her iPhone to track her miles.
Venskus said she welcomes people to walk with her “as long as they like walking pretty fast. I usually don’t make a plan of which direction I head out first. It is kind of just do it!
“I am never more than a couple miles from home, so if someone wanted to join me I guess they would have to find me!” she said. “By the way, I do plan on starting at 3 a.m., which is one of the benefits of doing the walk here because if I were in Boston, they would not allow us to start before 5:30!”
In 2021, Venskus received an email from the Jimmy Fund Walk staff congratulating her for being in the top 250 fundraisers. She was quoted then saying, “All your donations have not only contributed to the very important research for a cure and for the care of cancer patients, but also to the much less important effect of putting this old lady from Rumford into a somewhat ‘elite’ group of ‘athletes.'”
To donate go to: https://tinyurl.com/59b5vnyp.
People can more easily go to the Jimmy Fund Walk website, danafarber.jimmyfund.org, put her name in and donate, she said, or send her a Facebook message (Constance Venskus) to get her address and mail a donation to her.
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