MassBay Community College student veteran Bradley Moffitt of West Roxbury has been selected by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) to run in the 2018 Boston Marathon Military Relay and represent the Town of Wellesley. The commemorative military relay will be a team of sixteen active and retired military personnel who will run throughout each of the eight cities and towns on the Marathon course. These sixteen runners, representing five branches of the military, will run in pairs of two passing a baton along the race route in recognition of the B.A.A.’s Year of Service. Moffitt, an Army Veteran and current Army Reservist, will be paired with Wellesley Firefighter Ben Hampton and will run the course from the Wellesley Free Library to the area near Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
“I am excited to be selected to participate and run in Boston Marathon Military Relay,” said Moffitt. “I can’t wait to use this amazing platform to honor our Veterans, current service members, military families, and our country. I’ve watched the marathon since I was kid, and this beyond fulfills a childhood dream of participating in it.”
The 2018 military relay will commemorate the relay that kept the Boston Marathon going a century ago. As a result of America’s involvement in World War I, the 1918 Boston Marathon was held as a military relay race, unlike its traditional footrace format. Ten-man teams representing various military branches ran from Ashland to Boston, passing batons along the course. The relay served as a unifying moment for community and country, and has not been replicated since. The 1918 relay format preserved the continuity of the Boston Marathon, and today the race is the world’s oldest annual marathon.
Moffitt is an Army Veteran and currently serves as an Army Reservist, who is majoring in Business Administration. While on active duty, he was stationed in Kansas and deployed to Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Djibouti. Moffitt will graduate with an Associate degree in May and will be transferring to Webster University in St. Louis, MO to pursue a Bachelor degree in Business Management. He currently lives in West Roxbury with his wife and two dogs.
Cheer on Moffitt and all the Boston Marathon runners on Monday, April 16, 2018.
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