‘This is going to be an epic year’
Boston Marathon runner is looking forward to Oct. 11 race
A Boston Marathon runner who like thousands of others was devastated by last year’s race cancellation at the height of the coronavirus pandemic is gearing up for this “epic year” after the chaos of the last 18 months.
After the Boston Athletic Association nixed the 2020 in-person race and then delayed this year’s race to October, Somerville’s Cherie Turner had major doubts that this month’s race would actually happen.
“I’ve been hesitant to be excited about this year’s event,” the 52-year-old runner said last week. “I’ve been ready any day for everything to get canceled again.
“But now I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is actually going to happen,’ so I’m getting excited about it for real,” Turner said. “This is going to be an epic year.”
The Boston Marathon has implemented health and safety protocols ahead of race day on Oct. 11, including requiring participants to either prove they’ve been fully vaccinated or they’ve gotten a recent negative COVID-19 test before the race.
Turner was training for last spring’s in-person race when she got the disappointing news that the race from Hopkinton to Copley Square would be canceled. She ended up doing the virtual run around Fresh Pond in Cambridge, but it wasn’t nearly the same.
“I was deeply sad,” Turner reflected on that day. “It was really heartbreaking.”
Then, she was not guaranteed a bib for the 2021 reduced field. But fortunately she made it in, receiving the BAA’s email that she had made the cutoff.
“I’m so excited,” Turner said. “Thinking about it gets me a little emotional.”
After 2.5 years without an in-person Boston Marathon, nerves will be at an all-time high on Oct. 11.
Turner’s best advice for her fellow runners is to “stay calm.”
“Rein it in, and really just enjoy the whole thing,” she said.
While not training out on the Boston-area roads, Turner is following the running journeys of nine runners from around the world who are all preparing for the marathon.
Through her podcast called “Strides Forward,” she gives listeners an inside look at what goes into earning a place at the start line for one of running’s most celebrated events.
“They’ve all really put in the dedication and work,” Turner said of the women runners, adding that she explores “what it’s like navigating your marathon training as you’re trying to live your life. It’s not easy, but it’s doable. You can do this if you want to.”
“For 100 days or so, it’s a huge part of your whole life,” she said. “This is years and years in the making for people, and it’s given me so much time to reflect on that.”
Turner advocates for older athletes to get out there and keep at it, saying, “You have great years ahead of you in your 40s, 50s, and even in your 60s and 70s.”