Ready, set to help area homeless

Somewhere between attending class, studying, and sleeping, a dozen Harvard Medical School (HMS) students have made the time to train for a 200-mile, 24-hour relay race from Bretton Woods, N.H., to the seacoast. So what drives these future docs to run laps through the itchy grass of the Medical School Quad so they can push and punish themselves across the Granite State? The homeless population of Boston, it turns out.

The group of 12 competing in this weekend’s Reach the Beach Relay (the event kicks off Friday, Sept. 16) is using the event as an opportunity to raise money for the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless Program (BHCHP). The runners (aka Team HMS) aim to raise between $5,000 and $10,000 for the organization, which is the largest of its type in the Bay State, providing health services to area homeless in 70 sites across Boston.

During the relay, Team HMS will traverse 36 segments covering a variety of terrain and difficulty levels. Each HMS runner will average over 16 miles.

To make a donation, visit http://www.bhchp.org/donation.htm, or send a check to Reach the Beach Relay, Office of Student Affairs, HMS, 25 Shattuck St., Boston, MA 02115. Please make checks out to BHCHP.