Massachusetts State Police and Members of the US Military Join Forces to Run the Boston Marathon

On Marathon Monday, April 16, 2007, there will be seventy active members of the Massachusetts State Police, two retired members and four civilian State Police employees toeing it up at the starting line of this year's Boston Marathon. In addition, Troopers from New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Maine will be running, to round out the contingent.

The Troopers have joined forces with 50 members of military personnel, all of whom have been "Iraq War Deployed". Seven of the soldiers ran in the Iraq marathon last year. Several soldiers are home on leave to participate in the Marathon and will be returning to Iraq in the days following the marathon.

At the 25.5 mile marker, there will be a 6'x18' banner in memory of Trooper Mark Charbonnier who was killed in the line-of-duty in 1994. The banner will have a photo of him standing beside his cruiser in his running gear taken on the morning he ran the Boston Marathon. Mark was a member of the State Police and both his father and brother were members of the Boston Police. The City of Boston has issued a "conditional permit" which will allow the banner to hang 15 minutes after the first runner passes underneath.

There have been a total of 275 Massachusetts State Troopers who have participated in one or more marathons. Lieutenant Bill Coulter heads the list having run a total of 86 marathons.

For further information, please contact Massachusetts State Police Media Relations at 508-820-2623.

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www.mass.gov/msp

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