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Halperin will be with DeCarlo when he competes in is friend's honor in the 2017 Boston Marathon.
Halperin died from pancreatic cancer in 2003. DeCarlo will train for the next year and raise money for pancreatic cancer research along the way.
"I want to run well and I want to run fast and finish with a good time," DeCarlo told Daily Voice.
However, he said, he's "putting together this fundraiser to do it in a way that he -- a guy who was so good at everything -- would be, like, 'Wow you really did something with this'."
DeCarlo, who coaches track and cross-country at Felician University, sprinted in high school and moved to long distance over the years.
He'll get his own coach to prepare for the marathon over the next year.
"I want to finish the race and know I did my best," he said. "I want to say I put everything I had into it."
Halperin studied law at Cornell University and had a job waiting for him in New York City when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He still accomplished much in his life, his friend said. Halperin had a black belt in karate and played guitar, among his talents.
"He was like the example," DeCarlo said. "He was the best at everything that any of us knew. He was a great athlete, great student, went to a great law school. He was like the one we were all able to look to as a source of inspiration."
DeCarlo raised more than $4,700 for his race fundraiser. He wants to donate it to pancreatic cancer research but said he's still searching for the right charity.
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