Sandrine Madeiros isn’t really a runner. In fact, she doesn’t particularly like it.

“I don’t enjoy running at all,” she said. “It’s just not my thing.”

So it may come as a surprise that Madeiros, a Rochester resident, will be running 26.2 miles in this year’s Boston Marathon.

“I just wanted to feel like I did something,” she said. “I can’t cure cancer, but I can raise money to find a cure. I feel like this is my contribution.”

Madeiros, the program manager for the child and adolescent psychiatry residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital, is running with the MassGeneral Hospital for Children’s Pediatric Cancer Team.

As part of the team, runners are paired with young cancer patients. Madeiros has been paired with a 9-year-old osteosarcoma patient named Rebeckah Almeida.

“They sign us up with someone who matches our personality,” she said. “I visit her when she’s [at the hospital], we took photos together, we made friendship bracelets.”

There’s a section at the 20-mile mark for the children to watch the race, so during the April 16 marathon, Madeiros will be able to stop and visit Almeida before finishing the final six miles.

“I think it’ll be very emotional,” she said.

In the final weeks before the race, Madeiros said she is feeling excited – just for the race to be over.

“I’ve been having nightmares about it,” she said. “I had a nightmare that I collapsed. I had a nightmare I was the last one out there and the whole world was waiting for me to finish. I’ve had a little anxiety over it.”

Considering Madeiros’ general disdain for running, her partnership with Almeida has been a large part of keeping her motivated throughout the training process.

“It’s definitely something that will stick with me forever,” she said. “I hope I can maintain a relationship with [Almeida]. Training has been hard, but she keeps me motivated. She didn’t choose to have cancer, or go through radiation.”

Because Madeiros lives in Rochester, training with her running group in Boston has been difficult, she admitted. The hospital has a coach that sends emails with goals for the week, which has helped Maderios stay on track.

There are about 100 people from the hospital participating, and each person has to commit to raise $6,500. So far, Maderios has raised about half of that, and is considering organizing a fundraising event in Rochester.

To donate, visit https://www.crowdrise.com/sandrinemedeiros1