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Golden Retrievers gathered and walked to the Boston Marathon finish line on April 16 to honor their fallen friend, Spencer the Boston Marathon Dog.
The gathering was arranged by MA Golden Meetups, a group that organizes different meetups and events for Golden retrievers.
One of Spencer’s owners, Rich Powers, said he was overwhelmed by the gesture. “Just to know that so many people care. I mean, the outpouring of support for us is just absolutely amazing,” Powers told WBUR.
MA Golden Meetups’ co-founder, Elisha Bussiere, told CBS Boston that they were actually holding an event when news of Spencer’s passing broke.
And that’s when the idea to honor Spencer during the marathon came about. “One of the members suggested why don’t we have a representation at the Boston Marathon since Spencer won’t be there this year and it just grew from there. It was a wonderful idea,” said Bussiere.
The group also sold “Golden Strong” bandanas for the Boston Marathon event. And they were able to raise about $1000, which went to Spencer’s owners.
The money is reportedly going to be donated to Morris Animal Foundation, a non-profit organization which works to research a type of cancer called hemangiosarcoma.
In 2022, Spencer was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and sadly lost the battle to cancer in February 2023.
Spencer gained paw-pularity as the “Boston Marathon Dog” for holding his “Boston Strong” flag at Mile 3 to greet and cheer on runners since 2015.
And for being a “beacon of hope”, he was even named as the Official Dog of the 126th Boston Marathon by the Boston Marathon last year.
