Connie Venskus of Rumford points to a banner announcing the 26-mile Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk in which she plans to participate virtually next month. This will be the fifth consecutive year she has been part of the fundraiser. In the past 13 years she has raised $23,097 and has a goal of making it $25,000 this year. Submitted photo

RUMFORD — For the fifth year in a row, Connie Venskus is participating virtually in the 26-mile Boston Marathon Jimmy Fund Walk on Oct. 6.

The Rumford resident, who turns 77 on Thursday, has been part of the fundraiser since 2011. This year, she will do the walk again, all within 1.5 miles of her home in the Virginia section of town, the same area where she has been training.

Over the past 13 years, Venskus has raised $23,097 for the Jimmy Fund in support of research and patient care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, where the walk is held. She has attained pacesetter status by raising at least $1,500 a year. Last year she raised $4,277.

“My goal for this year is based on the amount needed to get to $25,000,” she said. “Fundraising has gone quite slowly this year and as of Sept. 10, we are at about $900. This has been raised since I registered on Aug. 22. Dana Farber and the Jimmy Fund does such amazing work in the fight against cancer and I am so proud to join in their fight through this fundraiser.”

Venskus said she has always enjoyed walking.

“In 2011, my son, Ian, who lives in Boston, invited me to participate in the Jimmy Fund Boston Marathon Walk with him and that began a summertime goal for me: training for the marathon and fundraising for this important fight against cancer, a fight supported by my family and friends near and far,” she said.

“I still find myself spurred on by competing against myself. In the spring, when I was told I have atrial fibrillation, I was happy when my doctors assured me that walking was one of the best things I could do for my heart,” she said.

Venskus will begin her seven-hour or so walk around 3 a.m. and wear a headlamp and reflective vest. She uses an app on her iPhone to track her miles.

Typically, she said her walk includes going to Adley’s Auto Sales and Service from Prospect Avenue and back and loops onto Front Street and Crescent Avenue. She also goes out on Prospect Avenue and around Sunnyside Terrace, then U.S. Route 2, from Sunnyside Terrace up to Royal Avenue with several loops around the River Valley Crossing parking lot.

“I do welcome anyone who would like to walk with me, although only once here in Rumford has anyone taken me up on it,” Venskus said. “In 2020, my friend Rich Kent and his dog, Bailey, walked the last couple of miles with me. I am never more than 1.5 miles in either direction from my home in the Virginia section of Rumford.”

Venskus said she appreciates the donors who have supported her mission since 2011.

“It is heartwarming to share this fight with all of you,” she said. “When I walk, I keep in my prayers you and your loved one who have been affected by cancer. I know personally some who have benefitted from the research and care at Dana Farber. We are fortunate to live in a time when medical miracles are happening.”

In 2021, Venskus received an email from the Jimmy Fund Walk staff congratulating her for being in the top 250 fundraisers. She was quoted then saying, “All your donations have not only contributed to the very important research for a cure and for the care of cancer patients, but also to the much less important effect of putting this old lady from Rumford into a somewhat ‘elite’ group of ‘athletes.'”

To donate, follow the link to her fundraising page.

People can more easily go to the Jimmy Fund Walk website, danafarber.jimmyfund.org, put her name in and donate, Venskus said, or send her a Facebook message (Constance Venskus) to get her address and mail a donation to her.