It’s 6:30 a.m. on Marathon Monday. While thousands of runners are crammed into the athletes’ tent in Hopkinton, fighting for bathroom lines and bracing against the April weather, members of the Heartbreak Hill Striders running club are somewhere else entirely. 

They’re on a friend’s couch. 

An Elite Marathon Experience

“Our Boston Marathon experience is elite,” said Larry Keller, the club’s president. “It is an amazing way to experience the Boston Marathon. No crowds, no hassles, and people love it.”

Every year, the Newton-based running club loads its members and guests into private vans, drives to a private home in Hopkinton, and spends the early morning hours before the race relaxing. With bathrooms and couches at their disposal, they enjoy bananas, bagels, and hydration drinks on the counter before the vans shuttle them directly to the starting line. 

“It is such a chill way to start the marathon—you don’t have to deal with the athletes’ tent, which is literally a gigantic circus tent with 30,000 runners underneath it, and lines that are, you know, half an hour long to take a piss,” Keller said. “You don’t have to deal with any inclement weather. You’re in a warm place.”

When the race ends, a rented health center near the finish line is waiting with hot showers and refreshments. 

“We’ve got all kinds of refreshments, refueling stuff there for you, and you can totally relax,” Keller said. “We’re starting to get known for the way that we do the Boston Marathon.”

26 Years and Counting

The Striders were formed in 1999 by Wellesley runner Jim Carroll—a 35-time Boston Marathon participant—and a few other runners who preferred to train in the suburbs around Newton and Wellesley rather than running with Boston-based clubs.  

It was Carroll’s club, Keller explained, for the majority of its first 25 years. 

“All of the planning, all of the track practices, were all done by him, and he got very little compensation,” Keller said. “We did compensate him a small amount for weekly coaching, but all that other stuff was done on his own. So it really was a one-person operation for many years.”

With Carroll approaching retirement age, a newly reformed seven-member board took shape. Keller, who joined the club in the early 2000s via word of mouth, was nominated as president. The club’s membership has since grown to about 70.

“About two years ago, we said, ‘You know what, Jim’s getting older, probably would be thinking about retiring sometime soon, and we need to know how some of these events are done, how they’re put on, and who his contacts are,’” Keller said. “So they pointed to me and said, ‘Well, you’re gonna be on the board, and you may be president.’”

Over the past 26 years, members of the club have grown incredibly close. One of the founding members, Marlene O’Donnell, has seen the club become more than just a training group for her.

“I would say it’s almost like my second family,” O’Donnell said. “I’ve made a lot of different friends. It’s a lot of different relationships. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Training on the Course Itself

The Striders’ Marathon Monday experience is just one aspect that sets the club apart. Members train rigorously together throughout the year, preparing mainly for the marathon, though some train for other running events.

“The main focus is health and improving your running, and a lot of people train for the Boston Marathon,” O’Donnell said. “Some people do triathlons, Ironman sprint triathlons, that type of thing.”

The club holds weekly track workouts at Wellesley High School in the summer and rents Babson College’s indoor track in the winter. They also train extensively on the marathon course itself, paying special attention to one of its most famous and difficult stretches, Heartbreak Hill, which they pay homage to with the club’s name. 

“Sunday mornings, we start at BC, at the Green Line, at the Dunkin’ Donuts right there,” Keller said. “And we run various distances, backwards, up the course, going the opposite way towards Wellesley. To the fire station and back is an 8-mile run. As you get closer to the marathon, we’ll go up into Wellesley.”

In addition to their Sunday runs, some members gather at the base of the hill on Thursdays to run repeats.

“That’s sort of craziness,” Keller said. “You see a bunch of crazy people running up and down Heartbreak Hill.”

The group’s nonstop training on one of the most notorious parts of the course pays dividends when the race rolls around.

“Come marathon day, we know the hills,” Keller said. “We know that stretch from the firehouse to BC like the back of our hands. And that knowledge, when you run Boston, is so valuable. You know how long the hills are, how steep they are, where the crests are coming.”

Rich Maltz, a long-time member of the club who has run 41 marathons, said that the camaraderie of running and training with his fellow members has been invaluable. 

“It’s been great socially, and it’s great,” Maltz said. “The support of others makes [training for a marathon] that much easier.” 

More than a Running Club

To qualify for the marathon, the Striders have maintained a relationship with the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). Each year, the club commits 10-20 volunteers to staff water stops at the Boston Marathon, the BAA Half Marathon, the BAA 10K, and the Jimmy Fund Walk.

In return, the BAA awards the club roughly five invitational entry bibs, which are spots in the marathon that don’t require a qualifying time or charity fundraising. The club then gives them out to members who volunteer the most. 

“We give them out to our runners based on the amount of volunteering that each runner did during the course of the year,” Keller said. “So that’s been a big aspect of the club … we want to give, you know, an opportunity for as many runners as we can to get a bib and be able to run Boston without having to get a qualifying time, without having to raise money.” 

A Growing Legacy

The Boston Marathon is ingrained in the Striders’ DNA. Maltz has run the race 19 times, O’Donnell 17 times, and Keller eight times. Maltz, whose daughter joined the club and trained with him, hopes the club continues to grow and attract new members who share the same love for the sport they do. 

“It’s a unique club in the Boston area because of all the benefits we have,” Maltz said. “We need younger members for it to continue, and we have a few, but I think we need to really push hard for some more.”

Keller stressed that the group’s welcoming and inclusive attitude makes it appealing to runners of all skill levels.

“If you’re looking for a friendly group who’s willing to embrace you, no matter what your skill level is, no matter what your experience level is with running at all, from first-time runners to experienced marathoners, we welcome you,” Keller said. “You’re going to find a group of fun-loving folks that just enjoy the sport.”