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Boston Marathon 2022 yearbook

Robin Condon | Published on 4/24/2022

ROB CARGILL & JOCELYN CASCIO

The weather and the crowd were A++ today. ~Rob Cargill

Hopkinton to Boston today!! So grateful, especially getting to share 26.2 miles of smiles with Rob Cargill, who is kindly running my pace today

love being back on the MVS bus for the first time in 3 years and fun meeting up with Andrea Scott from Aiken!! ~Jocelyn Cascio

LANSHAN CAO

I was very happy for this year's Boston. The spectators were enthusiastic, they made the 26.2 miles run much easier, not to mention the support from our lovely club, MVS. The bus was so relaxed and convenient. I met Tom at the finish line and reunion with so many MVS members, it was a beautiful memory. I am so proud to be a member of MVS!!!

2022 Boston Marathon is the first Patriot's Day Boston Marathon since 2020. This is my 4th Boston and the best.

The weather was great, sunny but not hot, a little head wind but the little cold wind made me feeling fresh.

The running experience was so smooth and relaxed in all of my Boston Marathons, I was able to control the pace in the first half and still be able to pick up after running Heartbreak Hill in Newton. The thousands of spectators along the 26.2 miles were amazing, there was not even an inch of quiet, it made me feel so special and

encouraged. This year, I was able to PR my Boston time by 3 minutes.

The race finished, but the memory will last forever.

BRYAN CARNAHAN

When I ran the Boston Marathon in October 2021, it was the 2nd Marathon I ever ran. 3:00:16 was an improvement of nearly 6 minutes from the Maine Coast Marathon more than 2 years earlier in May 2019 that qualified me for Boston! In spite of the massive improvement, I was a bit disappointed with the result. Due to some road races in the recent past having incorrectly placed distance markers, I put too much trust in my GPS watch rather than the perfectly placed BAA distance markers on the course and ended up going too slow for the 1st 16 miles to the Lower Falls. The Newton hills were slow, as expected, which left me with too much of a deficit to overcome in the remaining 5 miles. I did not want to wait an entire year for the NYC Marathon in November 2022 to redeem myself so I gave Boston another go in April 2022. I had a planned strategy that I executed nearly to perfection! 2:58:17 was an additional improvement of nearly 2 minutes from 6 months earlier! Most importantly, I ran a marathon in less than 3 hours! Mission accomplished!

NORMA DEFUSCO KING

My week leading up to the marathon began as a volunteer packet stuffing for 30,000 athletes who would toe the line on April 18th along with my Merrimack Valley Strider teammates, lead by a very hoarse Tom Licciardello.

This year’s 126th Boston Marathon was a 26.2 mile party and memorable in so many ways. Being able to celebrate and participate in the 50th anniversary of the first official women’s division in race history, returning to the traditional Patriots Day race date after 1,099 days, absolutely perfect weather, seeing my MVS friends at the start, finish and all along the route with so many friends and family and all of the awesome volunteers. Drawing strength from their cheers and feeling so much positive energy and celebration along the whole route from start to finish. Everyone was so excited to be back.

This was my 5th Boston and 9th marathon overall. To qualify and run in the oldest and most prestigious marathon in the world is such an honor. Being able to witness it’s return after such uncertainty in all of its glory and grandeur was amazing!

To quote Boston Marathon Race Director, Dave McGillivray, “The come back is better than the setback”. So very true!

TOM DOLAN

I was really happy with the marathon this year, I got a new PR by almost 3 minutes and managed to finish strong. I'm so grateful to MVS for making this possible: firstly for getting me an entry to the reduced-field for the 2021 marathon, which enabled me to qualify for 2022; and secondly for the excellent group track coaching program which is a key element of marathon training to build speed, and is done in a group setting to help make marathon training a more social and enjoyable activity. The club really does a great job of promoting, supporting and developing runners in the community.

JOSH GILES

It was such a wonderful experience to run my first Boston Marathon. It was perfect weather and the crowd carried me all the way from start to finish. The support from the Merrimack Valley Striders from training through the finish line was unbelievable. I was supposed to run in 2020 but this experience was worth the wait!

KALLIMAN GOMES

Running my 5th Boston marathon and having a full field of runners and a regular race since 2019 was very special, the MVS bus ride with all my MVS friends, having my family waiting for me at the finish line and crowds carrying you on when things got tough made my day! I’ve missed all of that and I’m glad it’s back. I couldn’t be happier with the whole experience and can’t wait to do it again next year.

JULIA HARDY

"The 126th Boston Marathon was my first live-and-in-person marathon. It couldn't have happened on a better day. I am so grateful to the MVS Boston Marathon Committee for honoring me with the opportunity to represent our team that day, and to my MVS family for their support and encouragement, through my training for this marathon, and ever since I became a member in May 2019. I'm proud to have earned my first Abbott World Major Star on my home turf. Also, there is no better feeling than crossing the finish line to have my running partner waiting for me and draping my medal around my neck. That's definitely something neither of us is going to forget."

DIANE JANNETTI

So this happened while taking pictures at the finish. I literally punched the big NYPD dude while posing. He was very nice about it.

SHARON JOHNSON

Before the race I listened to an interview with Dr. Jerry Lynch
He spoke about how important it was to do your best in any given situation and by doing so you will “win the day’.

His motto “win the day’” is what stuck with me throughout the day and kept me in the right frame of mind.

It’s tough to describe the satisfaction and emotions of making the podium in Boston. I was invited to the awards dinner at Fenway where I had the opportunity to meet the elite runners, the John Hancock athletes and some of the most inspirational people in my life. All of that, topped off with this year’s 50th Anniversary for women running Boston! From the first week of training to an evening of celebrating the 126th Boston Marathon was an epic journey for this coach.

TOM KINNEMAN

As you know, the Boston Marathon was very special for me this year as I was bouncing back from cancer treatment last summer. I broke my streak at number 14 when I was unable to run last fall, but was able to toe the line again on April 18 for number 15. While I was 40 minutes slower on Monday than my last marathon, I was happy to finish in under four hours, which is well under the qualifying time for a 70-year old next year. (Yikes, will I really be that old…?)

I could not have done it without the support of my family, friends, colleagues and especially my MVS teammates. The support I got during my treatment was tremendous, and the patience of all my running buddies as I worked my way back up to the distance and speed needed to take on another 26.2 mile challenge was just as important.

I also am very grateful for the support everyone has shown in my efforts to raise funds for the LGH TeamWalk for Cancer Care in honor of the amazing team at Lowell General.

SEAN LEIGHTON & ANDY CUMMINGS

Running the Boston Marathon in general is a very special event, and nobody makes it more exciting or gets more excited for the race than Andrew Cummings. From the start of that morning, he was ready to go and excited for the race. We got to walk around the athletes village an hour before the race, shaking out our legs and enjoying the atmosphere and I swear he was ready to run at that moment (sweats on and everything).

Then we get up to the corral where you can feel the excitement of Boston, and see the excitement in Andy as he is trying to step past everyone to get to the race with a huge giggling smile.

The excitement didn't stop as the race started. We went out hard, which is easy to do in Boston, but Andy was having a great time and pushing the pace. He thrives off the crowds, high fiving everyone in Wellesley, waving his hands with me to get the crowd to be a little louder, and joining in on the LET'S GO ANDY chants. Every time the crowd gets loud, he pushes a little harder even if he is tired. The hills are tough at Boston, especially when we go out hard, but that didn't stop Andy from running. His excitement was still there, he kept pushing, and we had a great strong finish for him to have a new PR of 3:29:59.

As I imagine for everyone, the Boston Marathon is a beautiful experience, but running with the love of the race that Andy has makes it more special.

DAVE MCGILLIVRAY

50 B.A.A. BOSTON MARATHONS – CHASING THE UNICORN

It took 1,310 miles to get here, but because of the support and encouragement of family, friends and colleagues I was able to finish my 50^th Boston Marathon this past Monday evening. I was thrilled to be joined by so many dear friends and running icons along with two very special runners, my son Luke and daughter, Elle. Other friends and supporters joined us along the way and as we approached the finish line. We did exactly what we said we were going to do, start at 3pm and finish at 8pm. Our crew of Captain Ron Kramer and my brother Bob (Bmac) along with other amazing supporters managed the entire run with incredible precision and efficiency. State Police troopers once again escorted us along the entire course keeping us going and keeping us safe. The run was flawless and the smoothest ever.

I was taken back when my friend Sean Ryan presented me with a poster of my grandfather as we were passing by the Evergreen Cemetery where he is buried. It was 51 years ago that I dropped out of the race near this spot and when I vowed to come back and do it again and again and again and for the rest of my life. My grandfather taught me about “earning the right” to set goals and because of that I never dropped out of another race in my life.

We all arrived at the finish line to the cheers of literally hundreds of friends including Boston Marathon winners Meb Keflezighi, Kathrine Switzer, Joan Samuelson, Amby Burfoot and Bobbi Gibb. My other children, Ryan, Max and Chloe held the finish line break tape. I presented my bib #100 to Joyce Wade, wife of Paul Wade from Cincinnati who qualified for Boston but tragically passed away in August.

Each runner and supporter received a special 50^th medal generously donated by Ashworth Awards. And, most importantly, over $100,000 was raised for the Dave McGillivray Finish Strong Foundation which inspires and empowers youthacross New England and beyond to increase physical activity, expand literacy and build community and self-esteem through running, reading, and performing acts of kindness. The Foundation recently donated six running “blades” to kids with prosthetics so that they are also able to run. One of them joined us for the final stretch along Boylston Street. Pretty inspiring. And, there is still time to donate at: https://www.givengain.com/cause/62379/campaigns/23790/

Today there was a very nice story in the Boston Globe by prize winning photographer, Stan Grossfeld.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/19/sports/race-director-dave-mcgillivrays-long-running-boston-marathon-tale-reached-50-years-2022/

And another one by Tim Dumas (who ran with us) of the MetroWest Newspaper.

https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/sports/2022/04/19/guests-join-race-director-dave-mcgillivray-50th-boston-marathon/7329758001/

Many thanks to the BAA, my DMSE Sports colleagues, my crew, Ashworth Awards, my “teammates”, my family, the media, the State Police, Eric Gilsenan for all he has done and all those who came out to welcome us at the finish line. My only sadness is that my Mom, Dad, brother Alan and Grandpa Eaton weren’t here to see it all...but then again, maybe they were.

On to #51!!

MELISSA QIAN

This is my 10th marathon, I start running marathons 5 years ago, here is a summary of my 10 marathons results:

	Year	Marathon	Result
1	2017	Baystate	3:54:55
2	2018	Chicago	3:41:19
3	2019	Ocean Run RI	3:39:25
4	2019	CIM	3:31:24
5	2020	Virtual Boston	3:37:47
6		Virtual London	3:34:54
7		Virtual New York	3:45:06
8	2021	Boston	3:32:18
9	2021	Philadephia	3:34:56
10	2022	Boston	3:31:39

Last year my first not virtual Boston marathon, I ran very fast in the first half course which cause the finish very painful, so this year, I just want to enjoy the race, not worry about the results at all. I will run the London marathon in October. My goal finishes a total of 26 marathons before I turn 60. Two marathons a year for 8 years. Then I will start cycling for 10 years, and start swimming when I turn 70 for another 10 years, so plan to spend 30 years finishing a triathlon.

SHANE & AMANDA SMITH

We had both hoped to run Boston, but never dreamed we would run it together. Being new parents, we never thought Boston 2022 would be in the cards for us, but when the opportunity arose, we jumped. We are more than just husband and wife, we are each others training partners and biggest supporters. We are #shamanda. While we each had our own struggles through training and the big day seeing our 10 month old son, Greyson is a memory will we always cherish. We hope Greyson loves running as much as we do, and we can’t wait for him to join our amazing running club, The Merrimack Valley Striders. We want to thank our family, friends and MVS teammates for helping our Boston dream come true!

MAURA SZENDEY

I had never planned on running a marathon, but after running a few half marathons, joining MVS, and volunteering for the Boston marathon, I decided to give the distance a try. After running my first, I wanted to go for Boston.

I was very fortunate to receive an invitational bib through MVS in 2018. While the weather was less than optimal, I knew I wanted to try it again.

Fortunately, I was able to qualify for 2020 in another marathon but we know what happened there. I ran the virtual and also ran a live marathon that qualified me for 2021 and 2022.

2022 was the best experience yet. Perfect weather, full field, great crowd support, MVS friends volunteering at the start and watching/cheering along the way. I ended up with a 20 minute improvement over 2021 and a qualifier for 2023. Can’t wait to come back next year!

LAM TIEN

This was my second time running Boston and it was an amazing experience once again. I felt more prepared this time than the last. My body held up well for most of the day. The weather was ideal and it was a perfect day for running. The crowd level was up for the entire route, the was no points at all. It was a great day overall. Congratulations to everyone that ran and everyone should be proud of their accomplishments!

KEVIN YETMAN

It was the experience of a lifetime. It was like 26.2 mile running party. The atmosphere was charged with so much positivity. I never heard so many people, most complete strangers, cheering for me and urging me on when I was struggling. When I crossed the finish I saw Tom Liccardello. For years Tom had told me I should do Boston saying "If opportunity knocks, you should open the door." To anyone reading, that is very good advice. If you have the opportunity to run Boston, grab it with both hands and hold on tight for the ride of your lifetime.

One last thought if you'll indulge me. I cannot thank MVS enough for this opportunity. There is no way in the world I would ever be able to qualify for Boston. MVS literally gave me the chance to live out every runners dream, and I was proud to represent the club. I hope I did the club proud.

TAMMY GILES STAPLETON SANDRA LEHANE ED PORTO

MARIE TURNER ANNIE WILCOXEN

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Boston Marathon 2022 yearbook

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