A trip round the bases at Fenway to help injured vets

NORTH CANAAN — Next month, Rebecca Cahill and Erin Fowler will participate in the Run to Home Base at Fenway Park in Boston for the second year. And this time, they’re bringing a whole team along.On May 22, they will be joined by Rebecca’s husband, Donald, and Caleb Huff and his girlfriend, Chelsea Happ. Huff was their inspiration last year. He was serving in Afghanistan then and came home in February.The Home Base Program is a partnership of the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital. It provides care and support services to military service members, veterans and families affected by combat and other deployment-related stress and traumatic brain injury.This time around, the North Canaan team will run in honor of Fowler’s brother, Kyle, who is currently serving in the Army and training in Explosive Ordinance Disposal in Redstone Arsenal, Ala. They have dubbed their team “Anchors Aweigh.”The annual 9K Run to Home Base, presented by the Boston-based New Balance athletic footwear company, starts and ends in Fenway Park, with all runners crossing the finish line at home plate.Approximately 3,000 runners are expected to participate, including 500 on active military duty.Cahill said she and her teammates are all doing a lot of running to train and are gathering sponsors to help them meet their goal of $3,000. That total is slightly less than what they raised last year; they’ve adjusted their expectations due to the sluggish economy.But their spirits are as high as ever.Fowler and Cahill are playing softball as part of their training. Cahill lives on Route 7 South.“The other day, I ran all the way to softball at Segalla Field,” she said.Services provided by the Home Base Program to veterans and their families includes clinical care to New England veterans of the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are also support services for family members including spouses, parents, children, siblings, partners facing deployment or reintegration challenges, community education for caregivers and first responders; and access to clinical trials and new therapy and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.To sponsor the team, go to www.runtohomebase.org.