The 2022 Boston Marathon marks the 50th anniversary since women were first allowed to run the marathon. With that in mind, Caroline Kacha, MCAS ’22, decided to run this year’s Boston Marathon for 261 Fearless, an organization that promotes female empowerment globally through education platforms and the creation of women’s running groups.
“The woman who started the charity is named Kathrine Switzer,” Kacha said. “She’s actually the first woman to ever run the Boston Marathon and her number was 261, so we ran on behalf of her.”
Growing up in Westchester, N.Y., Kacha was involved in many sports but was not much of a long distance runner, she said. But, she took up running during her sophomore year at Boston College and then began to consider the possibility of running the marathon.
Balancing fundraising and training for the marathon during her senior year was challenging, especially since Kacha said she also had to focus on searching for a job and wanted to enjoy the social aspects of senior year. But, Kacha said that she knew she had the mental strength and commitment to run no matter what.
“Training was honestly not as bad as you would anticipate,” Kacha said. “It was really just about a [having] mental motivation to get you through, and if you had that, then you would be more than willing to complete it.”
While running the marathon, Kacha said she felt that there was a weight lifted off of her shoulders as she approached BC and saw her loved ones there to uplift her.
“Once you get over [Heartbreak Hill] and … you see the place that you’ve been over the last four years—it just kind of was a sigh of relief,” Kacha said. “Honestly, I can’t even put into words how amazing it was to kind of just see all the people that I’ve spent my entire four years here with just there supporting me.”
