20 Years of Running the Boston Marathon

Thomas Campbell, a managing director in the Global Markets Division, ran his 20th consecutive Boston Marathon earlier this month. He writes about why he runs, his fundraising, and Goldman Sachs’ culture of giving.

By Thomas Campbell

On  April 18th, I finished the 126th Boston Marathon in support of Boston Children’s Hospital. It was my 20th consecutive year running the marathon as a member of Miles for Miracles, the hospital’s running team, which raises funds for the hospital.

My connection to the hospital began at birth: I was born with a congenital birth defect that affected the function of my hands. Throughout my childhood I underwent 15 reconstructive surgeries at Boston Children’s Hospital.  And for the last 21 years I’ve been a volunteer there, trying to give back—because I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for Boston Children’s Hospital. It changed my life, and continues to change the lives of so many others.

A few years ago, I set a personal goal of reaching $500,000 in fundraising by my 20th race. Today I’m happy to say I’ve exceeded my goal, which would not have been possible without Goldman Sachs and the firm’s culture of giving. Many of my colleagues have supported my fundraising efforts for the last 20 years. It means the world to me that my co-workers—including partners of the firm through Goldman Sachs Gives—have rallied around a cause that is important to me. It’s a testament to the firm’s commitment to giving back to the communities where we live and work.

For anyone looking to make a difference, here’s my recommendation: If it’s a cause that’s important to you, don’t measure your impact by your first fundraising efforts or first dollars given. Instead, focus on the medium- to long-term, and scale your efforts over time. Be sure to take advantage of employer matching programs if you can. As a Goldman Sachs employee, I think one of the best perks of working here is Goldman Sachs’ Matching Gift Program, which allows employees to amplify the impact of their charitable giving by requesting to have their donations matched by the firm.

Running may be an individual sport, but over the last 20 years I’ve run thousands of miles with clients, managers, colleagues, mentors and mentees. This has been a unique way to train and have fun, while emphasizing our firm’s tremendous culture of giving and providing me a way to give back to the hospital that gave so much to me.