Boston teacher runs for Down Syndrome Day

BOSTON — Boston Public School teacher Caitlin Shanley runs marathons. But she chose to tackle a 21-mile route Sunday instead of one five miles longer. It was symbolic.

“Today is World Down Syndrome Day,” Shanley said. “And I’m stopping at seven of my student’s homes who have Down Syndrome.”

The length of Shanley’s run corresponded to the chromosomal abnormality of Down Syndrome. It is characterized by an extra chromosome 21. Around noon, Shanley reached the Jamaica Plain neighborhood where 7-year-old Mali Melaugh lives. Neighbors, family and friends cheered as Shanley awarded Mali a medal.

“Honestly, it means the world that they would share this day with me,” Shanley said. “It’s such a special day for them.”

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“Oh it’s so nice, it’s so special,” said Cory Melaugh, Mali’s mother. “And she’s had like an extended family, especially during this past year that’s been hard on all of us.”

Members of that extended family – Shanley’s fellow teachers – came out to offer moral support to their running colleague.

“The teachers, I mean, I give them so much credit this past year,” Cory Melaugh said. “They’ve had to adapt so many times to constantly changing situations.”

Shanley had to adjust Sunday to dips and hills and uneven terrain and to an afternoon in March that felt almost like May. But she did have the soothing constant of the run between those seven stops, which it sounds like she needed.

“I would say this is the hardest part, when I have to leave,” she said. “I know I’m going to another house. But I’m sad to leave them.”

Cox Media Group