Grateful for the medical treatment his young son received when he battled cancer, and with a desire to help families dealing with the disease, Dane Hoover Jr. will soon endure the challenge of running the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon.

He’s raising money through his participation in the race to help fund cancer research. It’s a cause that’s personal to him: His oldest child, Dane III, survived stage 4 neuroblastoma, a rare cancer, which was diagnosed when he was only 2.

Dane, who underwent five rounds of chemotherapy, two rounds of radiation and two bone marrow transplants, has been cancer-free for about eight years. Hoover credits Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston with saving his son’s life.

Hoover will participate in the marathon, which takes place Monday, April 21, as a member of the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team. They’re a group of runners raising money to benefit the Claudia Adams Program in Innovative Basic Cancer Research at Dana-Farber.

“I’ll make it to the end, hopefully, and raise money for a good cause,” said Hoover, 39, who is running his first marathon. “It would be a great accomplishment.”

Hoover was inspired to sign up by a friend who participates in marathons and by a counselor who worked at a camp for cancer-stricken kids who runs in honor of a boy who died of cancer.

The DFMC, now in its 19th year, seeks to raise $4.5 million for Barr Program initiatives to better understand, treat and ultimately cure cancer.

So far, Hoover has raised about one-third of his $10,000 goal. Donations have come in from friends, strangers, people who have treated his son, and fellow Salem Rotarians. “I think it’s great that he’s doing it,” said Dane, now 10, a Soule School fourth-grader. “He’s doing it for cancer kids.”

Hoover has been training for almost five months. His business and family responsibilities require him to often train early in the morning or late at night. But the hard work has paid off. He’s shed about 20 pounds and has seen drops in his cholesterol and blood-pressure levels. “It’s a lifestyle change at the same time,” he said.

Hit hard financially and emotionally after his son was diagnosed with cancer – “I lost everything,” he said – Hoover now helps other families who have a cancer-stricken child.

He is a board member and volunteer counselor for Childhood Cancer Lifeline of New Hampshire, an organization that helps families dealing with pediatric cancer.

“When you go through cancer, it’s a horrible, tough situation,” said Hoover. “I want to give (families) the best chance to get through it.”

Hoover will run in Dane’s honor and in memory of Grace Oughton, a Virginia girl whose family stayed at Hoover’s home for two-and-a-half months while she was being treated for neuroblastomo at Dana-Farber. Grace went into remission but died last October at the age of 3, following a relapse.

One supporter who is opening his checkbook to support Hoover’s cause is Mike Antonietti, whose son, Peter, is best friends with Dane.

Antonietti has pledged $10 for every mile Hoover completes. He knows the money will support important medical work at Dana-Farber.

“It gives him an incentive to finish the race, which I know he’ll do,” Antonietti said of his pledge. “The story of his son is a compelling one. He’s a great little kid. It’s a miracle what they were able to do in his case, and it’s a great cause.”