The 130th Boston Marathon is done, but the impact keeps growing. WCVB Boston covered Colin Gerner’s race day story, catching him at the top of Heartbreak Hill on Marathon Monday and following him all the way to a finish line moment he described as “everything I could have pictured and more.”
By the time Colin crossed Boylston Street, he had raised more than $250,000, making him one of the top fundraisers at the entire event.
Running for GJ
Colin ran his first Boston Marathon to honor his late brother, GJ, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma at 28 years old and passed away in September 2019, just two years later.
In his own words: “He was my big brother. He had a smile that you never got sick of.”
GJ didn’t let his diagnosis change who he was. He kept working. He kept running. He kept showing up for the people around him. As Colin told WCVB: “He fought GBM and lived his 25 months exactly like he did the 28 years before that.”
Before surgery, GJ made the decision to trim his beard down to a mustache, a small moment that became the foundation of a movement. That mustache is now the symbol of StacheStrong, a nonprofit that has raised more than $7 million for brain cancer research across 65+ grants at 40+ institutions nationwide.
“It’s so much more than a mustache,” Colin said. “It’s a desire to live life fully, a desire to fight back, and a desire to do everything possible for your loved one going through a brain cancer diagnosis.”
Real, Tangible Impact
The $250,000 Colin raised at the 2026 Boston Marathon is already hard at work.
In partnership with the V Foundation for Cancer Research, StacheStrong has announced a five-year, $1 million grant to research teams at Massachusetts General Hospital, supporting scientists studying how glioblastoma evolves and hunting for new ways to target it.
As Colin put it: “That is real, tangible impact that came out of running the Boston Marathon.”
This is what marathon fundraising makes possible. Not just awareness, not just hope, but funded science that moves from the lab to patients.
Double Your Impact This May
Brain Tumor Awareness Month runs all through May, and StacheStrong is making every dollar go further. Thanks to a generous StacheStrong donor, all donations this month will be matched up to $100,000.
That means every dollar you give right now becomes two dollars for glioblastoma research. It does not get more direct than that.
Donate now at stachestrong.org
Join Team StacheStrong
Colin’s Boston Marathon finish proved what is possible when a community decides to show up. StacheStrong has charity bib opportunities available for international marathons throughout 2026 and into 2027, including races in Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, Dublin, New York, and Tokyo. Applications are also open for the 2027 Boston Marathon.
Whether you run, donate, or share this story during Brain Tumor Awareness Month, you are part of the fight.
This race might be over, but the work is not.