This runner ‘barely finished’ the Boston Marathon last year. Now he’s back to run again.

Bryan Mallett, 24, is running to support Mass General again after losing his second mother to metastatic colorectal cancer.

April 4, 2026 | 7:00 AM

1 minute to read

In our “Why I’m Running” series, Boston Marathon athletes share what’s inspiring them to make the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston. Looking for more race day content? Sign up for Boston.com’s pop-up Boston Marathon newsletter.

Name: Bryan Mallett
Age: 24
From: Lynnfield

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to run for Mass General for a second consecutive year at Boston. My second mother, Sharla Sieve, unfortunately passed in December 2022 from Stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer, and everything I’ve ever accomplished since that point has been in her honor.

She was a patient at Mass General, and her youngest daughter, Olivia, created a fundraiser before she passed, which raised over $123,000. The goal of the fundraiser was to help support a new program at MGH to make hepatic arterial infusions available. Two times a month for the last year before she passed, Sharla had to travel to New York just to get the care she needed.

I was never a runner until the start of my senior year (fall 2023), and with her in mind, it is my dream to complete all of the majors, with Boston being the most important to me because it is local. Sharla was always active, and was known around our hometown for her early morning walks and jogs every day in the spring and summer. This is my fourth overall marathon already; Boston means the most because I ran it last April but I popped my calf on mile 17 and barely finished.

Sharla always supported me in whatever I did, especially in my young video career, as I achieved my dream of becoming a videographer for the Boston Bruins in fall 2024, but I am ready to honor her legacy even more this April, as someone who never quit and fought until the end, by running the hardest marathon for a second straight year.

Editor’s note: This entry may have been lightly edited for clarity or grammar.

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Kelly Chan

Content Producer

Kelly Chan is a content producer at Boston.com. She designs multimedia content on site and across social media platforms, and experiments with new ways to engage readers.

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