WBUR Oral History Project: Danny Bent

Item Information

Title:
WBUR Oral History Project: Danny Bent
Description:
Countless lives were affected by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and their aftermath. The WBUR Oral History Project collects stories from individuals whose lives were immediately and irrevocably changed by these events. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of WBUR, our team of oral historians, and the participation of these interview subjects, Our Marathon has tried to ensure that these stories are not forgotten. We believe that these stories matter, and that they demonstrate the ways historical events transform the lives of the people who lived through them. Oral historians Jayne K. Guberman, Ph.D., and Joanna Shea O'Brien conducted the interviews for this project. Oral History Project Manager Kristi Girdharry, Our Marathon Project Co-Director Jim McGrath, and Community Outreach Lead Joanne DeCaro recorded the interviews and provided research assistance and post-interview processing. McGrath and Our Marathon Audio Technician Ryan McDonough provided sound editing and processing for all of the interviews and clips. The opinions and statements expressed in interviews and related content featured in the WBUR Oral History Project do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Our Marathon, WBUR, Northeastern University, or any employees or volunteers affiliated with these institutions and projects. Our Marathon and The WBUR Oral History project make no assertions about the veracity of statements made by participants in this project. Danny Bent, a British writer, teacher, and humanitarian, created the One Run relay race across America in support of survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings, together with two friends. Growing up in Derbyshire, England, Danny's parents taught him to pursue his dreams and stare down fear. Throughout his life, Danny has been a runner, bicyclist, and triathlete, who has also enjoyed bungee jumps, bog snorkeling, and sky dives, along with adventure traveling. As a young adult, following a serious biking accident in France, he decided to quit his job in finance and follow his passion to become a teacher for young boys. A devoted and innovator educator, Danny spent a year as an exchange teacher in a rural Indian village in order to bring this remote community to life for his students. In what he describes as a life-changing adventure, he decided to travel the 9,000 miles to India by bicycle, using his six-month ride across continents to raise money for the community. A lifelong runner, Danny described the Boston Marathon as the "superbowl of running races." When he and his friend, Kate Treleaven, heard breaking news about bombings at the finish line, they wanted to express their solidarity with people of Boston, as well as the worldwide running community. Danny, Kate, and their friend, Jamie Hay, devised the idea for a cross-country relay race from California to the marathon finish line in Boston. Deciding on a goal of raising $10,000-$20,000 to support survivors, they dubbed their project the "One Run." Over the following weeks, the three friends scrambled to refine and implement their plan. Despite initial fears about attracting enough participants, runners began signing up, as messages of thanks poured in. In the interview, Danny describes highlights of the relay, from its starting point outside San Francisco, through the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, to the final stages across Massachusetts. Participants, carrying a baton in the shape of a lily to symbolize peace and hope, ran day and night, through heat and storms, in groups and as solitary runners. Danny relates the experiences of several runners, including the story of Nicole Reis and her father, John Odom, who was seriously injured in the bombings. In an emotional conclusion to the relay, together they carried the baton over the finish line, as she pushed him in his wheelchair. Danny discusses lessons learned from the first year and plans for a second year of the One Run in April 2014. Buoyed by the enthusiasm of first year participants and with support from Boston's professional sports teams, they raised their goal to $1,000,000 for the One Fund and between 4,000 and 5,000 runners. Danny reflected on the relay's impact, as he collected stories from participants and wrote about their collective experiences for a book on the One Run. The relay, he says, allowed him and many others to experience a collective sense of healing. "Boston Strong" was not just a saying, he noted, but what people were actually feeling. For him, the experience of creating the One Run exemplified the power of his motto - "live your dreams."
Interviewee:
Bent, Danny
Interviewer:
Guberman, Jayne
Recordist:
Girdharry, Kristi
Contributor:
McDonough, Ryan
Date:
February 26, 2014
Format:
Audio recordings (nonmusical)
Genre:
interviews
oral histories (literary genre)
Location:
Northeastern University Library
Collection (local):
Our Marathon
Subjects:
Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston, Mass., 2013
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Extent:
01:26:45
Link to Item:
http://hdl.handle.net/2047/D20267629
Terms of Use:
In Copyright. This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Requests for permission to publish material should be addressed to Northeastern University Library's Digital Scholarship Group (dsg@neu.edu).
Contact host institution for more information.
Language:
English
Notes:
The opinions and statements expressed in interviews and related content featured in the WBUR Oral History Project do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Our Marathon, WBUR, Northeastern University, or any employees or volunteers affiliated with these institutions and projects. Our Marathon and The WBUR Oral History project make no assertions about the veracity of statements made by participants in this project.
The WBUR Oral History Project. Danny Bent (Oral History), Jayne Guberman (Oral Historian), Kristi Girdharry (Recorder), Ryan McDonough (Sound Processing and Editing)