Local songwriter Michelle Lewis has been recording music in Boston for a decade now, but last Spring, a song she wrote for one cause quickly took on a a new meaning for an entirely different cause. “Run Run Run,” which will appear on Lewis’ upcoming album, “The Parts Of Us That Still Remain,” was originally written for one of her friends who was filming a documentary about running the fastest marathon of his life. A month after writing it, the Boston Marathon tragedy happened.
Now, with this year’s Marathon about a month away, Lewis has dedicated the single to all of the runners of the Boston Marathon, and has accompanied the song with a video fueled by the runners themselves. Along with her husband Nathan Laver, who produced the video, Lewis played “stunt driver,” moving alongside of runners who are training for next month’s race. Lewis says, “we wanted to kind of get that overall feeling that I always get at the finish line when I’m watching people run the marathon.”
After putting out a call on social media for runners to participate in the video, she received an enormous response from the running community. Some of the teams represented in the video include November Project, WAMP, Marathon Coalition, South End Athletic Company, Somerville Road Runners and RunWestin, but Lewis was most humbled by the participation of a certain famous duo. “We were lucky enough to get Team Hoyt to run with us and appear in the video,” says Lewis. “Being from Massachusetts and knowing their story for all of these years, it was so inspiring to be able to meet and work with them.”
Lewis also helps to benefit the runners’ cause in a more direct way with the release of “Run Run Run.” From now until the day of the Marathon, April 21, she will donate all proceeds from the sale of the single to The One Fund. “The One Fund is still happening,” she adds. “It got a really strong response right after the marathon, but a lot of people forget that those are life-long injuries and life-long expenses to go along with them.”
“The Parts Of Us That Still Remain” will be released Friday, May 2 with a show at Davis Square Theater in Somerville. Tickets can be purchased here.