Danny Cahill always sought to help others and bring the community together. 

In his honor, the Swampscott Rotary Club set out to do just that with its second annual Cahill 5K and 1-mile walk. On Saturday, May 4, over 100 runners gathered at Linscott Park to honor Cahill, a lifelong resident of Swampscott.

“He was the total fabric of our town,” race organizer Diane O’Brien said. 

Cahill died in 2023 at the age of 81. He ran the family business, Swampscott Electric. While he had many customers through his company including the town’s fire alarm system, former Rotary President Doug Dubin called Cahill the “town electrician.” 

“He took care of all the buildings. He knew everything about heating, electrical. Anything that needed to get fixed, he was able to get the right person there to fix it,” Dubin said. “He was so caring about the town of Swampscott.”

However, Cahill’s greatest passion was volunteer work. He served on the board of St. John the Evangelist and was an active member of the rotary in Swampscott for almost 50 years. 

Proceeds from the race went toward the Anchor Food Pantry, in which Cahill was instrumental.

“We started the Anchor Food Pantry in the middle of COVID, and, frankly, we didn’t know if we were going to get enough food,” O’Brien said. “Danny showed up with a Salvation Army truck filled with cans. All you did was put the need up to Danny. He really saved the pantry.”

The race was also in support of the Danny Cahill Scholarship to provide educational opportunities for Swampscott High School students.

“All of the students knew Danny, and every teacher will tell you about Danny,” Dubin said. “He just was so into making sure people were safe, happy and good.”

Anthony Colella, 16, won the race at 21:25, or a 6:53 mile pace.

“It feels good,” Colella said. “I really wanted to get the win.”

Colella, a member of Swampscott High School cross country team, said his team sometimes practices on the route the 5K ran along. He said that races like the Cahill 5K allow him to get better competitively. 

His teammate, Anna Metaxatos, 18, was the fastest in her age group. However, she was not planning to run the race until about 15 minutes before it started. 

“I found out about this race this morning,” Metaxatos said, adding that her sister had called her after seeing a sign for the 5K. “It was an awesome event for such a good cause.”

Metaxatos and Colella were both awarded $100. 

Nora Hanagan-Breen was the fastest overall female runner, and she came in second in the race with a time of 21:49, or a seven-minute mile pace.

“It was great. I’m very happy,” Hanagan-Breen said. “I tried to catch him (Colella) at the end but that obviously didn’t happen.”

Cahill’s son Daniel also ran in the 5K, coming in eighth overall at 26:51. 

“When Rotary first said they were going to do this, I was blown away. My dad loved Rotary. He ate, slept, breathed it,” Daniel said. “He always tried to connect people. He wanted folk to get ahead…so it’s great that there’s so many people here.”