Mitch Calvert
In the words of Tom Petty, local runners Lori Green and Connee Badiuk were “runnin’ down a dream” on Monday at the 113th edition of the Boston Marathon.
And, boy, was that dream ever realized.
Badiuk clocked a time of 4:06:37 while Green came in at 4:27:17—but both said the enjoyment of the race far outweighed any timed results.
The Fort Frances pair were just two of 26,385 runners in the race, and both barely could put into words the sheer number taking part, not to mention the fans who dotted the 26.2-mile route every step of the way.
“The fan support is impossible to explain,” Badiuk exclaimed.
“The girls at Wesley College were so loud I could hear them a half-mile before I got there, and a half-mile after, and it goes about a half-mile long as you run through it,” she added.
“I’ve never laughed in a marathon before or even smiled, but I was laughing the whole time because it was so much fun going through there,” she noted.
“And then at Boston College it was the same thing, mind you they were trying to give us beer,” she laughed.
“And behind Fenway Park, the baseball game had just gotten out so it was really loud, and the last eight miles was just a constant roar.”
Green echoed much the same sentiment for the crowd support—noting without that emotional boost from the cheers, she may have packed it in early as her leg injury gave her trouble throughout the run.
“The fan support through the entire race was really unbelievable,” she agreed. “There were a few times when I felt I might have to stop because of my leg and if it wasn’t for all the people cheering, I probably would have.
“I felt maybe I could have pushed it more, but I didn’t want to injure myself any worse,” Green lamented. “I’m on my feet all day for work, and an injury would make things very difficult.
“I just took the advice from all the people who told me just to enjoy the experience, and I just sat back and took it all in.”
The weather certainly was less-than-ideal, with cool temperatures and a headwind that created further challenges aside from the steady dose of hills and bottlenecks with other runners.
“The start was really nice weather for the first 10 miles or so, and then it really got cold with a strong headwind,” Badiuk noted. “They said the headwind added an extra mile to your time, but I’d rather run in that cool than the heat.
“I wasn’t here to get a ‘PR’ [personal record,” she stressed. “I was here to have fun and just to be a part of it.”
Green said she felt her leg flare up while walking around town prior to Monday’s run, and had to battle through the pain every step of the way.
“I was a little disappointed with my time,” she admitted. “But there’s nothing quite like the feeling of completion that you get when you cross that finish line, and I’m just really happy I was able to do this.”
Badiuk said there are plenty of motivating factors to keep you going throughout the race, including the thousands of runners who are doing it for a cause beyond themselves.
“There’s so many people running in support of charities and in memory of [someone], so it’s really emotional,” she remarked. “I was running behind someone who was running for his autistic son, and when I passed he said, ‘Have a good race,’ and it almost made you want to cry.
“There were a lot of people out there like that, but it’s also humbling to run here because there are so many fast runners,” Badiuk added.
Salina Kosgei (2:32:16) of Kenya edged Dire Tune (2:32:17) of Ethiopia by one second to win the women’s division while Deriba Merga of Ethiopia captured the men’s title in a time of 2:08:42.
Badiuk and Green both said the feeling you get when that finish line comes into view is hard to duplicate.
“When you come around the corner and you see that finish line, it was almost surreal,” Badiuk recalled. “It was pretty emotional, hard to keep it in check when they put the medal around your neck because it’s hard to believe you did it at that point.”
Green’s husband, Bob, and Badiuk’s husband, Brad, and eldest son, Boyd, were at the finish line to see them cross—but neither saw their loved ones in the sea of faces that surrounded them.
“I was actually on the other side of the road when I passed them about a half-mile from the finish line and didn’t even see them,” Badiuk admitted. “That was kind of too bad because they made a sign and everything, but I guess I was just looking at that finish line.”
“I told him [Bob] to wear his orange hat so I could see him, but a lot of people wore orange hats,” Green laughed. “He said I looked right at him but there were just so many people.”
To make the experience even sweeter, the Badiuks are Boston Bruins’ fans and got to see the black-and-gold pound the Montreal Canadiens 5-1 on Saturday night to grab a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.
