Krystle Campbell’s Legacy Motivates UMass Boston’s Marathon Runners

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Run for Krystle Raises Funds for Krystle Campbell Scholarship FundWhen Robyn Dangora, Suzzanne Freeze, and Paul Dyson cross the start line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, they’ll be thinking about making it through those next 26.2 miles to the finish line on Boylston Street -- but they’ll also be thinking about Krystle Campbell.

Campbell is the UMass Boston alumna who was killed in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

“I do think about Krystle a lot,” said Dyson, a senior lecturer in English and UMass Boston alumnus. “I’m a veteran and unfortunately, I’ve lost enough friends to think about somebody at every mile, but I do think about Krystle most of all. I feel like she carries me along. I’m not a particularly religious or spiritual person, but I definitely feel a connection there.”

Dyson, Dangora, and Freeze are the three on-campus runners taking part in this year’s Run for Krystle. They will join seven other UMass Boston alumni and friends in running Monday’s Boston Marathon to raise funds for the Krystle Campbell Scholarship Fund. Started in 2013 by UMass Trustee Richard Campbell, who is not related to Krystle, it supports students like her. This year’s recipients, Leona Smith of Revere and Eden Blakeley of Dorchester, received $5,000 scholarships during a ceremony on Saturday.

Freeze, a program director at UMass Boston’s Institute for Community Inclusion who is running her second straight Boston Marathon for the Krystle Campbell Scholarship Fund, was glad Campbell’s father, William, was able to attend Saturday’s ceremony. Like Dyson, Freeze says she carries Krystle Campbell with her on training runs and shorter races.

“There was one half marathon in Rhode Island that I don’t know why I signed up for it. It should have been canceled. And I thought, I don’t really want to go. And then I ...

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