Molly's Boston Marathon 2023

I have been a runner since I was in high school and running has been a defining part of my life. It has shaped my mind, body, and experiences. I have run through the very worst and very best times of my life. My dream has always been to run the Boston Marathon. I have always been so inspired by Katherine Switzer and they way she ran for herself and on behalf of women in 1967. In 2019 I tried to reduce my pace so I could qualify in the 2020 Athens Ohio Marathon. I ran myself into severe hip and hamstring pain that required months of physical therapy and a cortisone shot in each hip joint and the fear that my running days were over. I felt like a failure. Then COVID-19 happened.

I have always considered endurance to be my magic power. What I lacked in speed I made up for in stubbornness. Living, as we all have, through a global pandemic and seeing the way it has affected us all has renewed my dedication to running the Boston Marathon and running it for Katherine Switzer's 261 Fearless charity team. I know that I am not fast enough to qualify but I have the endurance and stubbornness to raise enough on behalf of myself and other magical bad ass women for whom running empowers them to endure.