‘Smile for 26.2 Miles’ brings comedians and community together for the Heather Abbott Foundation.
MANCHESTER, NH – While seemingly antithetical concepts, laughter and pain can also make strange bedfellows.
For example, many people—including this correspondent—perceive the act of running a marathon as an objectively painful experience, but why not marry the pain of training—even tangentially—with laughter and levity?
This is exactly what a local runner and five comedians will attempt to pull off at The Strange Brew Tavern on Saturday, March 28.
“Smile for 26.2 Miles” is a fundraiser performance organized by local comedian Kyle Heavey and his friend Justin DeFlumeri, who is running the Boston Marathon on April 20, with all proceeds going to support the Heather Abbott Foundation, which provides customized prostheses for amputees who have lost limbs due to traumatic circumstances.
Heather Abbott was watching the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street in 2013 when one of the terrorists’ bombs near the finish line was detonated, taking Abbott’s left leg below the knee.
“I run for a lot of charities, and they’ve all been fantastic, but what separated Heather was the fact that she flew amputees in, and I got to hear, firsthand, the impact the foundation has had on their lives,” said DeFlumeri, who will be running in his second Boston Marathon. “To see how [Heather] gives these people a second chance at having a life is amazing.”
For DeFlumeri, who lives in Merrimack and owns Optimal Safety Inspections, the race is personal.
In 2017, DeFlumeri began leaking cerebrospinal fluid after a lumbar puncture, which left him bedridden for three months then required years of rehabilitation. He wasn’t fully healed until 2021. “I have my own health story, and I wish someone had been there to help me,” said DeFlumeri.
In order to run The Boston Marathon on behalf of a charity, each runner must raise $10,000 or incur the difference themselves, adding mental stress to the gruelling physical stress that training to run 26.2 miles takes on the human body.
After a ski mountain agreed to host a ski and snowboarding event to support DeFlumeri then backed out, DeFlumeri approached Heavey, who he met in June of 2025 while Heavey was filming DeFlumeri’s 197 mile run across New Hampshire, from Pittsburgh to Nashua, to air on WMUR.
DeFlumeri asked if Heavey, who also hosts “Off the Mark Sports” on 95.3 WMNH on Sunday mornings and recently started dabbling in stand-up comedy, would help him organize a comedy show with all profits benefitting The Heather Abbott Foundation.
Heavey didn’t hesitate and agreed with the stipulation that DeFlumeri—a gregarious 37-year-old single father to his 6-year-old daughter, Aria—emcee the event.
“Smile for 26.2 Miles” will be held from 7-11 p.m. and feature five comedians with five minute breaks between sets, and a silent auction at the end of the night.
The comedians include, in order of appearance, Derek Corney, Paul Landwehr, Gigi, Nick Sands and Heavey, who will also be debuting a musical number.
“We’ve combined some great local comedians who know how to make people laugh,” Heavey said.
Both DeFlumeri and Heavey agreed that, aside from raising money for a good cause, laughter is also a much-needed antidote for everyone right now.
“In a world of misery and wars and distractions, it is a perfect time to come out on a Saturday night, have some fun, and support someone who is doing all that he can to do to raise money for other people,” said Heavey, who completed The Boston Marathon in 2014. “We need to be able to help people right now, rather than harm them.”
Tickets are $10 at the door on the night of the show.