Thomas Petersen

Remembering Sean Collier, the MIT community formed a human chain.
Qualifying for the Boston marathon in San Francisco (11th place overall, 2:42:59)

I entered MIT as a graduate student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in fall 2012 and endured quite the exciting first year in Boston. Much of this excitement was well received. Hurricane Sandy and blizzard Nemo introduced me to the resilience of the Cambridge community. I made several lasting friendships hiking through wind and snow; playing tackle football in Killian court and sledding down Beacon Hill. The excitement of last April, however, required the Cambridge community to summon courage and strength in a different manner. The sinister events during the week of the Boston marathon stirred feelings of anger and disbelief. Nonetheless, I wish to remember these events with an inspiring attitude: In veneration of the valiant and selfless efforts of persons such as Sean Collier and the heroes on site at the finish line. As such, I wish to run the marathon in support of all people that helped MIT and Boston stay STRONG. In particular, I wish to represent my amazing friends and colleagues, the Ralph M. Parsons Lab, Building 1, and the Franz Ulm Research group.

I have much experience as a long distance runner, competing for the ASU Sun Devils from 2007-2009 and for the NC State Wolfpack from 2009-2011. Though I have not been running competitively the last few years, I am certain that the race day atmosphere will reawaken some latent adrenaline to help me conquer the distance. Please help me reach my goal of raising $1,000 to support the Collier Fund. 

  • More than 100%

Fundraising Goal: 

$1000

Current Fundraising Amount: 

$1667.42

Donations: 



$70.00 Mr Karl Petersen
$290.00 Mr Martin Petersen
$20.00 Katya  Frois-Moniz
$20.00 Alison May Hoyt
$26.20 Arjun Kumar Manrai
$40.00 Mr Scott Gifford
$20.00 Christopher Yung-Ta Lim
$50.00 Gaurav  Bhatia
$30.00 Alison Francesca Takemura
$20.00 Mr Rashid Hussain
$10.00 Hadrien Hyacinthe Laubie
$20.00 Mr Arash Noshadravan
$10.00 Kyle Creighton Peet
$10.00 Kimberly Ryan Davis
$20.00 Alexandra G Konings
$50.00 Ms Becky Schilling
$100.00 Ms Patricia A Dixon
$15.00 Dr Kerstin Falk
$25.00 Ms Melissa Garren
$20.00 Fatima A Hussain
$50.00 Professor Ruben Juanes
$25.00 Kris Kipp
$100.00 Dr David E Langseth
$25.00 Ms Vicki Murphy
$25.00 Mr Henri Van Damme
$20.00 Ms Kiley Clapper
$50.00 Aalap Shirish Dighe
$20.00 Ms Rebecca Petersen
$10.00 Nicolas Charles Bain
$10.00 Kelly Elizabeth Daumit
$100.00 Prof Sallie W Chisholm
$20.00 Kyle Brook Delwiche
$10.00 David William Sandford Maltzan
$10.00 Diana Mei-Ning Chien
$12.50 Mihai  Duduta
$20.00 Xiaojing  Fu
$20.00 Ms Emily Kloc
$20.00 Ms Deborah A Levey
$12.50 Alexandra P Tcaciuc
$26.22 Ms Teresa K Yamana
$10.00 Fatima A Hussain
$25.00 Ms Denise Brehm
$25.00 David P Whittleston
$100.00 Mrs Karen Proctor
$20.00 Thomas Alexander Petersen
$10.00 Mr Hao Wang
$25.00 Ms Mike Young

2 Comments

MIT STRONG

We would love to help you support the Collier Fund. You are an inspiration to all. We love you !

Making life look simple!

Thomas,

We are looking forward to seeing you run on 4/21. We would fly from anywhere to support you and this worthy cause. So very proud of your accomplishments. See you at the finish line.

Love Mom