Jim Driscoll, 25, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, recalls seeing two runners struggle to help Ofsevit as he approached, and he decided that if they weren’t making more progress by the time he got there, he would step in. Then she had a little surprise when she found she was pregnant soon after.
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This was the second straight year Ms. Vaccarella ran the Boston Marathon.
That’s right, the mother-to-be made a decision to run and make her dream come true, even if she was 29 weeks pregnant. “This was the first marathon I ever walked in”, he said. I won it. I wasn’t that far off from qualifying and I thought, ‘Well gosh, maybe I should try to qualify for it.’ That kind of started my quest. “I realize what it means being here”, he said. I can see why people make this a tradition.
“It was a great race”, Brink said.
Many runners who competed said they were struck in particular by the support they received from spectators along the course. The fans like to call out your name and give encouragement.
Walsh wore a sign on her back that read “Baby’s 1st 26.2!!!” while Carlston wore one that read “Marathon Doula”.
“When I cross the line I think of the day that I was in the hospital bed and that’s really what motivates me”, said Tony Marquez.
With the top American marathoners resting for the Rio Olympics, Neely Spence Gracey could be the best United States of America hope for a podium finish in Boston on Monday. This is her fifth marathon.
“To have a joyful marathon where the picture is of people of helping each other and is not people with devastating injuries”, says Ari, is a blessing. LeBlanc achieved her goal by finishing the marathon and her time was 5:52.33.
But it was the sounds that were the most overwhelming: Cowbells rang extra loud and cheers got thunderous when the elite runners, veterans, blind runners, amputees, and push-rim wheelchairs went by. The heavy security presence is the most visible difference three years later – in addition to the cops with automatic rifles who stood on numerous downtown street corners, trucks full of military personnel drove down the course between waves of runners. At the time I was coming towards them, I was the only female running (among her group at the time) and they just cheered me on.
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The mommy-to-be certainly accomplished that.
