Connect with us

Boston Bruins

Former B’s Captain Chara Running Boston Marathon For Charity

Published

on

Retired Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara is always looking for new challenges and it seems he’s found a new figurative mountain to climb in the Boston Bruins.

The 46-year-old Zdeno Chara will be running the 26 plus miles for next month’s marathon for the first time in his life, but clearly it had become something on the former captain’s bucket list while living in the Hub for the last nearly 20 years. Chara made the announcement on his own personal Instagram page where he also made public that he’ll be running for The Hoyt Foundation and Andover’s The Thomas E. Smith Foundation, which supports people living with paralysis.

“EXCITING NEWS!” Chara posted to Instagram on Sunday. “I’m so happy to announce that I am running my very first marathon, and what better first marathon than the Boston Marathon on April 17th! Dick and Rick Hoyt made an incredible impact on millions of people worldwide and personally helped to motivate us to our 2011 Stanley Cup Championship.”

“Atta Boy” exclaimed Chara’s former Boston Bruins teammate Andrew Ference in the comments section.

The Hoyt father and son team had been Boston Marathon fixtures for the last 40 years, when Dick first started pushing his son, born a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in the race for the first time. They ran their final Boston Marathon together in 2014 and the father, Dick, sadly passed away back in 2021.

Participating in the Boston Marathon continues an active role for Chara in Boston since retiring after last season, as he’s been a regular skating with the Boston Bruins alumni in fundraisers and showing up for Boston Bruins events like this season’s Winter Classic at Fenway Park. Chara has also been one to tackle fitness challenges like running a marathon as he’s climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and biked portions of the Tour De France course during NHL offseasons in his past as well.

Copyright ©2023 National Hockey Now and Boston Hockey Now. Not affiliated with the Boston Bruins or the NHL.