Runners plan marathon re-run after cold forces early exits
A police officer ushered Alyssa Maglione off the Boston Marathon course somewhere after Mile 6. She was shivering, her feet felt like lead. She couldn’t remember where she lived.
“I burst into tears. I was hysterical,” Maglione remembered. “When you train like that and you work that hard and you can’t do it because your body can’t do it, it is devastating.”
But Maglione — along with a group of at least 35 other runners who were thwarted by the rain and cold — will be running Boston Marathon 2.0 April 29. They will gather to run the same course, with volunteers on the sidelines supplying water and support, and finish what they started on Marathon Monday. With a temperature of 38 degrees in Hopkinton, it was the most frigid start the race has seen in 30 years. Hundreds of runners suffered from hypothermia and had to call it early.
A total of 2,785 runners were treated for medical issues — including 25 elite athletes — and 91 runners were transported to the hospital, according to the Boston Athletic Association. Ten runners were still in the hospital as of Tuesday morning.
Most of those treated suffered weather-related health issues.
The medical tents were equipped with “bear huggers” — blankets hooked up to a warming system — which are generally used in operating rooms to keep patients warm during surgery.
“I ran three marathons before this. I have never in my life felt the way I felt Monday,” said Maglione, 31, who ran for Massachusetts General Hospital. “It was terrifying and disappointing.”
The idea of a marathon do-over was conceived by Alison Wagner, a 32-year-old Harvard Business School student, who got to Mile 18 before she had to stop. At five months pregnant, she didn’t think it was safe to continue.
She posted the Boston Marathon 2.0 plan on her Facebook page, and received an overwhelming response from people who wanted to either run alongside her or cheer her on.
“I may not get a medal and have thousands of people out cheering, but I can still run that course,” said Wagner, who ran for Boston Children’s Hospital. “I want to have the conversation with my future child that it’s about persevering and not letting someone else dictate your victory for you.”
Wagner said she feels more inspired putting together the second run than she did the day of the marathon.
“In a way, it channels the spirit of Boston. It’s about community — it’s about Boston strong,” she said.
Julie Wilkerson, who also ran for Boston Children’s, will be coming back from New Jersey to re-run the race. She made it to Mile 16 before her heavy, saturated clothes forced her to stop.
“Once I saw Alison’s Facebook post, in a matter of two days travel was booked,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what it takes, we’re going to get it done.”