Swampscott resident Alden Freddo has always wanted to run the Boston Marathon. Monday is the 28-year-old’s chance.

“Not being a runner, I never felt ready to run Boston,” Freddo said. “I added Boston to my bucket list a few years ago and kept pushing it off.”

When his grandfather, Michael Purcell, died of cancer last May, Freddo decided to “do something special to honor his life and battle with the disease.” He will take part in the 130th annual, 26.2-mile Boston Marathon as a member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute team.

“I’m also running in honor of a few other people: one of my good friend’s father, Brian Murphy, also passed away this past year from cancer, which was also a driving factor in me wanting to run for Dana Farber. Brian was an amazing role model, coach and friend to me,” Freddo said. “Another, J. R. Moran, who was one of my favorite customers at Cindy’s Pizza. J. R. was taken from this world at the extremely young age of 44 from this awful disease.”

Freddo said Moran was always positive and kind, brightening his day at the family’s pizza business.

There is also someone currently battling cancer for whom Freddo is running.

“My Aunt Sue, who is currently battling cancer. Her strength and resiliency will be a driving factor of me crossing the finish line.”

Freddo committed to a training plan 23 weeks ago. He logged long runs in what he joked was “this year’s ‘wonderful’ New England winter” as well as sessions on the treadmill and laps around the track at the Lynn YMCA, the latter of which consisted of 217 laps.

He faced an ankle injury during training, but said he has focused on his physical preparation over the past six weeks.

“I am feeling strong and ready as ever leading up to race day,” Freddo said.

Prior to the ankle injury, Freddo was shooting for a sub-four hour finish time. Now, he said his goal is under four and a half hours.

Before the injury, Freddo was aiming for a sub-four-hour finish. Now, his goal is to finish in under four and a half hours.

Freddo said he’s most excited about “conquering the Newton Hills.” Runners encounter a series of four hills in Newton, culminating in Heartbreak Hill just after mile 20. From there, they face a downhill and flat stretch into Boston, where Freddo said he’s eager to “experience the energy of the crowds.”

“I feel awesome and beyond blessed to be able to run a marathon,” Freddo said. “The marathon will be hard, but it doesn’t come close to how difficult fighting cancer is.”