Sep. 7--PLAISTOW -- A runner in search of a cause has teamed up with parents fighting a deadly childhood disease.
Richard Anthony, 40, will run the 26.2-mile course in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 1.
He expects to raise $3,000 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy research as part of the Run for Our Sons team organized by Planned Project Muscular Dystrophy.
This will be his second big marathon, he said. Anthony ran the Boston Marathon in 2007 for another charity, the National Ovarian Cancer Association.
That race is probably tougher than the New York Marathon, he said, citing Heartbreak Hill, which comes toward the end of the Boston Marathon. He has spent more time training this time and expects to be better prepared.
Anthony had a scare during the Boston Marathon, he said.
"I had chest pains," he said.
When the doctors examined him, initially, they thought there was a problem. But ultimately, the physicians cleared him for more marathons.
Anthony decided to run the New York City marathon because a friend's 2-year-old son was diagnosed with Duchenne.
"It's terrible in the sense there's nothing you can do about it," he said. "Maybe we can raise some money and in a few years, they will have a cure."
He enjoys the accomplishment of running a marathon, he said, but conceded the race itself is grueling.
"I do enjoy it afterward," he said. "There's a certain amount of satisfaction. You say, 'That's pretty cool.' But there's nothing positive about it while you're doing it."
Anthony and his wife have two children.
Anthony, a Derry native, is a Pinkerton Academy graduate. He started running after high school when he went into the U.S. Army. He was in the National Guard and Reserves for 15 years.
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