Charlestown Runners Unite for Boston Marathon 'Race for Rehab' Team

This April, 12 Charlestown residents will be running with the Spaulding Rehab Hospital's "Race for Rehab" team. 

Each runner with the team needs to raise a minimum of $5,000 with a team goal of raising $750,000. Funds raised this year will be used to name the Fifth Floor Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program at the hospital in honor of the care provided to survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013, Spaulding officials said in a statement. 

Spaulding currently has 100 runners taking part in the Boston Marathon this year, comprising former patients and their family members, as well as Spaulding staff, community leaders and rehabilitation advocates. 

Among the runners from Charlestown will be Ali and Adam Fornash.

"As a Boston Police Officer, Adam knows how the events of April 15, 2013 shook those in law enforcement to their core," Suzanne Adams, a spokesperson with Spaulding, said in a statement. "Looking forward, after Boylston Street returned to business as usual and he and his coworkers were back to their normal patrols, the work to help those affected by this tragedy continued behind the scenes. Ali, working at the Navy Yard Bistro, met many folks that came from the Spaulding Rehab Hospital across the street to enjoy their first meal out in months."

Spaulding President David Storto, an avid marathoner, will run with the team as part of his seventh Boston Marathon.

"Last April, David was on Mass Avenue about to finish the race when he was stopped," Adams said in a statement. "For David, the marathon this year will be even more memorable as he knows the vital role Spaulding played for the survivors in the months following the bombings. This year will also be a family affair as David is training along with son Max and daughter Mara."

The following residents from Charlestown will run with the Spaulding Race for Rehab team:

• Ali Fornash
• Adam Fornash
• Suzanna Adams
• Ali Stoll
• Karis Antokal
• David Storto
• Kate Pedersen
• Arthur Smith
• Anna Geraty
• Anne Helm
• Marci Jones
• Mara Storto

For more information about the team or to support a runner, visit www.spauldingrehab.org/raceforrehab.