Runaway Rain
Phoenixville native MacNeill deals with rough weather to achieve her goal, raises thousands for charity
A few months ago, Allie MacNeill set out to raise money for the Stepping Strong Center by running in the Boston Marathon.
After five hours and 48 minutes of battling through intense wind, rain and Boston hills, MacNeill — a Downingtown West graduate who went on to play soccer at Neumann University and now lives in Phoenixville — crossed the finish line and reflected on her entire journey.
“It was the hardest most rewarding thing that I have ever worked for and completed in my entire life,” MacNeill said. “The first thing I said to my dad when I saw him, was that the only thing that could truly prepare you for this race is running it. I knew that I could run the distance, but then you factor in the wind and the rain and the hills. I doubted myself a few times, but then a few good songs came on.”
Despite those doubts creeping in, MacNeill had a change of heart around mile 17.
At that point, MacNeill saw her support system and thought about the reason she was running.
MacNeill began her journey when she decided she wanted to raise $7,500 dollars for charity. At mile 17 she was reminded of all the people who had donated to her cause, and at that point she was fully set on finishing the marathon and achieve her goal finishing of under six hours.
“When Allie sets her mind to doing anuything, she achieves that goal,” said her mother Lisa. “I knew as soon as she said she was joining the Stepping Strong foundation that she was going to give it a hundred percent, a hundred percent of the time and just knock it out of the park. I never had a doubt she would not finish her dream.”
Allie not only crossed the finish line and took home a Boston Marathon finishers medal, but she also fully surpassed her fundraising goal. Allie raised $9,000 for the Stepping Strong Center and, for her, it was the best part of it all.
“Fundraising was the hardest part of the journey,” Allie said. “We were all out their trying to do a great thing for all of these people that need our help and support. Running for a charity, especially the Stepping Strong Center, just made it worth it and everything that I hoped for.”
As Allie sits back and recovers from her long journey, she already knows what is next for her, and it may not be climbing stairs and running another marathon.
MacNeill is looking forward to giving back to the people who helped her and the people who need her help.
Boston has always been a special place for Allie, because her family is from there.
Now it will also be the place where she fought through 26.2 miles of adversity, and the toughest conditions in recent Boston Marathon memory, to help others.
“I hope that people take away that if you want something, you can do it,” Allie said. “But its going to take a lot of sweat, equity, love, labor and tears. “And if you can make the lives of others better by accomplishing your dream, that’s part of the dream itself,” Allie said. “Just try to do more for the people that need it and want it and return that means more to me than the medal around my neck.”