South End resident Valeria Hernandez will run in the 123rd Boston Marathon on April 15th in support of Massachusetts General Hospital's Emergency Response Marathon Team. Valeria will join an estimated 30,000 runners along the 26.2 mile course that spans from Hopkinton to Boston's Boylston Street. The funds Valeria raises will provide critical support for emergency care, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness teaching and training at Mass General, efforts that benefit victims worldwide. The Emergency Response Marathon Team's 2019 fundraising goal is $430,000.

Following the 2013 marathon bombings, Mass General was invited by the Boston Athletic Association to create a special team of runners. For the sixth straight year, thanks to a partnership with John Hancock, the Mass General Emergency Response Team will aim to collectively raise $430,000 this year. To date, the Emergency Response Team has raised over $1.9 million. The funding raised by the marathon team is critical to the Emergency Department's efforts to develop tools and training programs to continually advance its ability to respond to man-made and natural disasters. This year the funds will also support pediatric emergency response programs, ensuring the youngest and most vulnerable patients continue to receive state-of-the-art and compassionate care in a child-friendly environment.

"We are grateful to our runners and the awareness they bring to emergency medicine at Mass General," said David Brown, MD, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "These funds support the vital training and resources needed to develop a carefully, integrated response that spans multiple departments throughout the hospital."