BOSTON — The 130th Boston Marathon saw thousands of runners crossing the finish line this past Monday, including Houstonian Ryan DeWitt.
His cheering section was made up of more than a dozen friends and family members. They cheered as Ryan ran by while holding signs with words that matched the bright pink coloring on his shirt. They are all dedicated to the one family member not able to be at the race in person -- Molly DeWitt.
Molly was the youngest of the two DeWitt sisters. She and her sister Annie were both attending Camp Mystic in July 2025 when the catastrophic floodwaters ripped through the Kerr County camp. Tragically, Molly did not survive.
Ryan has long been an endurance racer. His wife, Elizabeth, as well as Molly and Annie, would always attend, oftentimes holding up a cutout of Ryan's face while cheering him along.
A few months after losing Molly, Ryan decided to run all seven major world marathons to raise money for both Molly's foundation and Heaven's 27 foundation. The money raised will go to animal shelters, homeless shelters, programs for underprivileged children and community centers.
KHOU 11 first spoke with Ryan a few weeks before he was set to run the 2025 Chicago Marathon.
"It's not about me, and I want to emphasize that," Ryan said. “Molly's older sister [Annie] was her role model, her idol, and Annie really loves cheering me on. So, I’m doing it for her. I'm doing it for my wife, Elizabeth, and I’m doing it for all the ... the other 25 families.”
We spoke with him about his commitment to running the seven races and his inspiration to complete them as quickly as possible.
"Elizabeth and Annie will be in my ear, and Molly will be in my heart. I know in my heart that she will be proud and watching, and so will her 26 sisters," Ryan told us at the time.
Twenty-six total families lost daughters at Camp Mystic in the 2025 July 4 floods. One family lost twin sisters. Search teams continue to look for the final missing camper, Cile Steward.
As Ryan crossed the finish line on Monday, he is now one step closer to finishing all seven races. During a recent game, the Boston Red Sox also shared a message on their scoreboard from Ryan about him running the marathon in honor of Molly.
Next up for Ryan will be the Berlin marathon in the fall. That will put him halfway to his goal of becoming a Six Star Marathon medalist and one step closer to completing all seven major world marathons.
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