OGUNQUIT, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Eight runners will take on the challenge of the Boston Marathon on Monday, running not to set personal bests, but to honor fallen soldiers with ties to Maine.
"I'm just a vehicle carrying it, but there is more of a message," stated Megan Gavin Kirk, whose husband Sgt. Joshua Kirk was killed while serving in the Army in Afghanistan.
"It is probably a great place to put the message out there because it is so big in New England, and I think a lot of people aren't really in touch with what is going on out there, and that there are so many men that die for this country and aren't aware of it."
"I know Joshua would have wanted me to continue to live, and he was so very supportive of my running, so what better way," she added.
She is one of three widows who will be running the marathon in honor of their husbands and other fallen heroes.
The runners will also be raising money and awareness about Maine's annual Run for the Fallen, which honors each and every Maine service man and woman killed serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. The run travles along the coast from Ogunquit's Veteran's Park to Portland's Monument Square.
Bill Kendall is running his first boston Marathon in honor of Marine Corporal Mark Goyet, who was killed in combat in Afghanistan in June, 2011.
"I'm going to lay it all out there," said Kendall. "I want to finish strong, obviously to represent Mark and his family, and there is no better incentive for me to get out out of bed and train, whether it be dark outside, raining out, cold, doesn't matter."
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