After a grueling 26 miles, 25,314 runners took their final left turn onto Boylston to the cheers of thousands of spectators lining either side of the street leading to the finish line.
For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boston Marathon took place in person on its traditional date of Patriots Day.
Evens Chebet of Kenya and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya finished first in the men’s and women’s open races respectively, with times of 2:06:51 and 2:21:01.
American Daniel Romanchuk won the men’s wheelchair division with a time of 1:26:58 and Manuela Schar of Switzerland won the women’s wheelchair division with a time of 1:41:08.
Monday marked a day of renewal and remembrance for many around Boston, including Henry Richard, a 20-year-old student at Pace University. Richard’s brother, Martin Richard, was killed at this finish line in 2013. Richard has stood at the finish line for many marathons, but this year he decided to run it.
“I know if [Martin] was here, either this year or the next coming years, he would have been doing it with me,” Richard said to The Boston Globe. “That’s all I could think about.”
Lori Mitchener, a professor of environmental science at Suffolk, ran in her 12th consecutive Boston Marathon this past weekend. Mitchener was excited to compete and said she ran fast enough to compete again next year. The charity she supports inspires her to run each year, she said in an email to The Journal.
“Boston is the greatest marathon on Earth and even when it breaks your heart you always want to go back. I am the coach for a charity team that raises funds for the Rett Syndrome Association of Massachusetts, so I have an extra determination to run it every year,” Mitchener said.
Mitchener said the lead up to the marathon was exciting, particularly this year due to COVID-19.
“The 2022 Boston marathon anticipation was palpable! After a year off and a fall Boston, the running world was ready to return to normal on Patriot’s Day, and that is exactly what we got,” she said.
Mitchener said training for the event can be particularly difficult, particularly because she was recovering from an injury.
“Returning from injury required a training cycle that had lower than usual mileage for me, and more cross training. I ran a lot of very hilly routes with a twenty pound weight vest on to prepare for the Newton hills after 15 miles of downhill running,” she said. “It wasn’t until about a month out that I was back to my typical weekends of 15 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. I had absolutely no speed work this training cycle so I really had no expectations of requalifying.”
“Boston is the greatest marathon on Earth and even when it breaks your heart you always want to go back.
— Lori Mitchener
Mitchener commented on her favorite part of running the marathon.
“As a human, my favorite part of the race is stopping to see the Rett families the team raises money for at mile 16. As a runner, my favorite part is passing hundreds of people from the hills to the finish,” she said.
The crowds across the course included many Suffolk students, who came to support friends, family and strangers who came to run the famous race.
Sydney Fogg, a sophomore sociology major, watched her mom run the race near the mile 22 marker. Sydney’s mom, Karen Fogg, ran her 14th Boston Marathon this past Monday.
Fogg said her favorite part of the marathon is watching her mom run, however she also enjoys watching the elite division of runners.
“I always have an iced tea with me and [her mom] will stop and drink some before continuing the race,” Fogg said. “I also really like seeing the professional runners go by. It’s really cool to see how fast they are.”
Fogg said she loves the energy in the crowd.
“There was music and a bunch of people, it’s always very electric, you can definitely feel the excitement and anticipation in the air! I imagine it helps the runners keep going,” she said.
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