May 15, 2026
When Jen Bruni approached her hairdresser, Candice, to run the Boston Marathon for REquipment, Candice wasn’t sure at first.
“I was recovering from surgery, and I only have so many marathons left on this ankle,” she said. “I have my sights set on world marathons.”
But then Christmas rolled around, and Candice saw how heartbroken Jen and her husband were to be facing the holiday, their first since their son Sandro’s life had been cut short by cancer.
“Then I was like, f– my ankle! I’m running Boston. This is something I can do for them and for Sandro.”
REquipment shared Sandro’s story on our blog last year: about how Sandro was in college when a rare tumor was discovered in his spine. After his surgery, a shower chair/commode from our reuse community helped him discharge home safely, and then a stander helped him fight his cancer with dignity and determination.
Ever since, Jen has been hugely grateful and supportive of REquipment. And when she learned the program had charity bibs and was looking for marathoners, she saw an opportunity to keep the momentum going for Sandro’s memory and the charity that made a big difference for her son.
“It meant so much to me and my family that Candice decided to run Boston in memory of Sandro,” Jen says. “I’m so proud of her achievement and thrilled she was able to surpass her fundraising goal for REquipment.”
Indeed, while training on her ankle was hard, Candice says that raising money for REquipment turned out to be pretty easy. She has a salon, and many of her clients knew Sandro’s family and story. Or she’d tell them how Sandro used to accompany Jen to the salon as a teenager. He’d get facials for his acne, and she recounts it with so much tenderness for a boy who she says was sensitive but also open to talking in that way that adolescents can be. Over a dozen years, she and Jen grew close, since about the time her salon first opened. She was there for the different hurdles of the Bruni family’s journey.
Listening to her, it’s easy to feel the shock and emotional terrain that Candice and Jen have covered together. Candice saw Sandro grow into a confident young man and an elite college athlete. His terminal cancer diagnosis was unimaginable. She sent a barber to cut Sandro’s hair when he was too sick to leave the house.
And when he died, “We went, as a salon, to his funeral,” she says. “Their story has been so impactful on all of us.”
Now imagine hearing that and facing off with a QR code ready to accept your donation at the register.
“I’m running these 26.2 miles to honor Sandro’s strength, to support his family, and to give back to a charity that truly changes lives,” Candice explains at her GiveGain fundraising page.
Her fundraising brought in over $11,000.
2026 was Candice’s fourth Boston Marathon and fifth marathon to date. She has hopes to run London and Berlin; she did not intend to give any more of her ankle to Heartbreak Hill, and she did all of her training on a treadmill to lessen the impact. (“It sucked,” she says bluntly.)
She also says being a member of Bob Hall’s REquipment Racers was the best charity experience she’s ever been a part of.
“We had a group chat, and it felt like all of us were connected even though we didn’t train together. Then, with names on our shirts, the second I saw teammates running, I was stopping and taking a selfie.”
“Everybody was really into it and excited to be sharing that moment.”
“And even though we lived in different states and were doing it for different reasons, everybody showed so much compassion for each other and love for REquipment. Everyone was willing to help each other out.”
This spring was the first anniversary of Sandro’s passing. REquipment is glad that at least one day during this painful season, Jen spent in the company of our reuse community, wrapped in Sandro’s jacket, tracking her friend racing in Sandro’s memory.
“I had the app and was able to see Candice run by,” Jen says. “It was awesome!”
As for REquipment, we are grateful to both Jen and Candice, not only for raising $11,000 to get more urgently needed equipment to families like the Brunis, but also because witnessing the strength of their friendship, well … that’s been awesome, too.
REquipment is, unfortunately, facing an unsustainable 35.7% cut in FY27. To ensure level funding, please help pass Sen. Michael Brady’s Amendment 548 at tinyurl.com/REQadvocacy. Using this tool, it takes just 2 minutes to contact your state senator and urge them to cosponsor Brady’s amendment. Won’t you please help REquipment be there for more families like the Brunis?
