Nick Hinsley's marathon schedule:

Teacher tackles 13 marathons in 13 months

Science teacher Nick Hinsley is conducting quite the experiment. His laboratory: the open road, where he'll run 13 marathons in 13 months. His goal is to cross marathon finish lines in 10 different states and raise $25,000 for Children's Hospital Boston.

A seasoned marathon runner (he's run 17 in seven years), Hinsley's connections to Children's run deep. He learned about the marathon program—which encourages runners to raise funds for the hospital—from his wife, Karen Hinsley, RN, a nurse at Children's. "Nick turned 39 earlier this year and decided to run all these marathons to celebrate turning 40," she says. "I've always said he's insane and now everyone is starting to believe me."

Jokes aside, she's proud of her husband's dedication to the hospital and to one patient, in particular. Zach is a 13-year-old student at the middle school in New Hampshire where Hinsley teaches. Zach was diagnosed with leukemia and is being treated at Children's. "Zach is really excited and, when he can, goes to see Nick run and cheer him on," Karen says. "And Nick brings Zach back t-shirts from marathons he runs for him in other cities."

To complete the grueling physical challenges, Hinsley runs about 95 miles a week and burns through a new pair of running shoes every month. With two young sons, Quinn, 4, and Ian, 2, and his jobs as a teacher and cross country coach, Nick squeezes in training runs as early as 4 a.m. "The reality is, I get to stop," he says. "But these kids will continue to struggle. The pain and suffering I go through is incomparable to what they're facing."