BY JENN McDOWELL

For one man in Hooksett, running is more than a good cardio workout.

Tom Shepherd is training to run the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4 and he’s running for a cause.

“Miles For Miracles” is a 28-member team of area runners who came together to raise money for Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Shepherd joined the team in March after getting some inspiration from his boss, who ran the 200-mile “Courage Classic” in Colorado to benefit Children’s Hospital in Denver.

Shepherd’s motivation comes from his 7-year-old daughter, Julia, who at age 5 was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare disorder that prevented her bone marrow from replenishing red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

At the time, the Shepherds were living in New Jersey and were in the process of moving to their new home in Hooksett.

Shepherd’s wife, Liz, took their daughter to the doctors one day for a routine checkup. They were also concerned about some bruises that Julia had, which her parents attributed  to sledding the weekend before,  which were strange looking.

When Liz Shepherd picked her daughter up to put her on the examination table, she left hand print bruises on the  little girl’s sides.

“You could see the criss-crosses where the shoe laces had been on her feet,” said Liz Shepherd.

The doctor recognized the bruising as petechiae, or popped capillaries, a condition that accompanies a variety of ailments.

Blood tests showed that Julia had no platelets, which enable clotting. Further investigation, including a bone marrow biopsy,  revealed that she had aplastic anemia.

The Shepherds began talking with Children’s in Boston about options, since they would soon move to the area.

Julia went through immunosuppressive therapy at Children’s, which worked well enough to attend kindergarten in September of 2005.

Tom Shepherd said his daughter has lived a regular kid’s life since her treatments ended in January of this year.

“She was amazing about it,” he said. “She probably did better than we did.”

The Shepherds said their daughter has done well in school, academically  and socially.

“She’s a very social creature,” said Liz Shepherd.

Today, Julia Shepherd takes dance classes, plays piano and is also a soccer player.

She said she is not afraid to fall and injure herself in soccer because her platelets are at normal levels now.

“I know if I start crying, I still gotta keep playing,” she said.

Shepherd has been training all summer, and every day he gets one step closer to his personal sponsorship goal of raising $10,000.

To date, the Children’s Hospital “Miles for Miracles” team has raised over $100,000.

The Shepherds are hosting a “Miles” fundraiser at Tupelo Music Hall in Londonderry on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m. Local artist Chad Perrone of the band Averi will perform, and tickets cost $20.

For more information about “Miles for Miracles” or to donate to the cause, visit www.giving.childrenshospital.org.

To view Tom Shepherd’s blog about his training tribulations or to donate to his “Miles” sponsorship fund, go to www.squirrelsnest.net/wordpress.