Staying

Kevin (above) noticed Team Joslin's runners in the Falmouth Road Race  and decided to sign up.

Ahead of the Curve

In March, Kevin Durgin would not have described himself as a runner. Even running two miles was a challenge, but he was determined to build his stamina for the fun and health benefits of it.

He’s been committed to that goal throughout the past six months and his efforts have paid off. In addition to losing 40 pounds, he’s developed the ability to run distances with ease. He also started participating in road races. Now, he’s adding a new type of intensity to his workout by devoting his next race—a half marathon that takes place in October—to raising money for Joslin’s High Hopes Fund, which supports the Center’s greatest financial needs in the areas of research, care and education for people with diabetes.

Kevin describes his fitness kick as an effort “to stay ahead of the curve.” In 1999, his father passed away from complications of type 2 diabetes, a disease he had lived with for 25 years. Eventually, diabetes caused his father to lose the ability to walk, required him to give up driving and forced him to retire three years early. “When you watch that happen to someone close to you, it stays with you,” says Kevin.

So at age 55, Kevin made it his mission to get in shape, lose weight and stay healthy. He started with trips to the gym before work, from 4:00 to 4:45 a.m. After he mastered all of the cardio and strength machines, Kevin says he “saw a running club and it seemed really sociable so I decided to join.”

Then in August, as he ran the seven-mile Falmouth Road Race, Kevin spotted lots of people wearing yellow Team Joslin t-shirts and decided to sign up as a Team Joslin fundraiser, to help millions of people with diabetes and honor the memory of his father.

Please click here to support Kevin in his Team Joslin half-marathon fundraiser.

Together, we will beat diabetes.