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'Orange Is the New Black' star Uzo Aduba runs Boston Marathon


UPDATED FEBRUARY 7, 2019 4:42 AM EST

Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba made her home state proud as she finished theBoston Marathon on Monday in just over five hours. The Medfield, Massachusetts native and Boston University graduate wanted to make her athletic experiencecount beyond the court, so she ran for a cause close to her heart: cancerawareness.

Part of the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge 2105team, the 33-year-old posted an Instagram photo of her racing shirtmarked with the name of her friend, Andrea Trasher, who died of breast cancerin October. “Lets git it. #DFMC #WhyIRun #BostonMarathon #bostonstrongcc@danafarber,” she captioned the picture.

Uzo raised $10,000 for cancer awareness while running the Boston Marathon Photo: Instagram

The actress, who finished with an official time of 5:03, amazingly raised over$10,000 for the Cancer Institute’s Claudia AdamsBarr Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research, which studiescauses of cancer. Uzo even took time while preparing for the big eventto visit the center on Saturday.

This is Uzo's second marathon, but first in her home state Photo: Getty Images

Two years after the Boston Marathon bombings, the Emmy award winner thought it was time torun her hometown's race after competing in the 2013 New York City Marathon.

“Itfeels like the right thing to do,” she told People magazine. “It still feelpretty raw, and with [the trial] it almost feels like a Band-Aid getting pulledback again. That’s where I grew up, where I learned what a marathon even was …to be a part of it, it feels particularly special.”