At the 2022 Boston Marathon, Jack Grady said that he met and spoke with runners from all around the world before the race started.
But, at the same time, the race brought him back to his roots. As he crossed the finish line, he said he heard the announcer read out the names of three different runners from Walpole, Mass. who had just completed the race.
Growing up in Walpole, Grady, CSOM ’23, said he was not a runner during his childhood. He applied to run the 2022 Boston Marathon with little forethought after running his first race in October, he said.
“I ran my first half marathon in October and that was not only my first ‘running race’ but the first time I’d ever really run more than ten miles,” Grady said.
Grady chose to run the marathon for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, an organization from which his mother received treatment in 2008. He said he felt particularly inclined to run and fundraise for Dana-Farber because of this personal connection.
“[Dana-Farber] was definitely something that was near and dear to my heart,” Grady said.
Although Grady anticipated fundraising to be equally as difficult as the training, he said he was able to fundraise well over the required amount by leveraging social media platforms to spread the word.
Grady said the main challenges he faced while training were suffering from plantar fasciitis, running in bad weather, and balancing his social life with training. Despite these conflicts, Grady said that the support from his friends, who understood why he was committing so much time to the marathon, helped him persevere.
This support carried through to the day of the event, when Grady’s friends waited for him at Mile 21 to encourage him with hugs and cheering, he said.
“It’s definitely a day I’ll never forget,” Grady said. “I felt a lot of love from people I did know and didn’t know.”
