On behalf of the Running for Innocence team and the staff of the New England Innocence Project, a big thank you to everyone who supported Running for Innocence on November 3, 2024, at the Genesis Battlegreen 5K/10K run/walk in Lexington, MA. We are grateful that you are a part of our community, fighting for justice for people who have been wrongfully convicted.
The Running for Innocence fund provides a unique way to support innocence work in Massachusetts and throughout New England by directly supporting the cost of hiring experts and investigators to help incarcerated people prove their innocence. The fund is shared by the New England Innocence Project (NEIP) and its partners at the CPCS Innocence Program and the Boston College Innocence Program.
This year marked the ten-year anniversary of the Running for Innocence team. In the years since we began, the fund has supported 53 case investigations, with 13 people freed following successful motions for new trial and 6 full exonerations.
Running for Innocence was born in the visiting room of MCI Norfolk. That is where NEIP board member and Director of the CPCS Innocence Program, Lisa Kavanaugh, first met former client Victor Rosario and learned of the role that long-distance running had played in allowing him to maintain his humanity during the 32 years of his wrongful imprisonment. Victor and Lisa co-founded the team in 2014, the year that he was granted a new trial and released from prison. This year, to commemorate the team’s 10-year anniversary, a small group hosted a Running for Innocence “walk” (pictured above) at MCI-Norfolk on the very track that Victor used to run on while wrongfully imprisoned.
Lisa spoke with Victor via Zoom and asked him what it meant to him to see the event become such a success over the last 10 years, helping others who were wrongfully convicted gain their freedom and reunite with their loved ones. You can watch his emotional reaction in the video below.
With your help, this year we were able to raise more than $25,000 to ensure the continued availability of this critically important resource to support the investigation of innocence cases in Massachusetts and throughout New England. Together, we look forward to your continued support and participation in the Running for Innocence team, including by joining us at next year’s walk/run on Sunday, November 2, 2025.