Christin Tate has been training for the Boston Marathon while raising two young children.
Hopkinton’s Christin Tate will be running her first Boston Marathon this year to benefit the Hopkinton Freedom Team.
Tate has always been athletic. She ran track and played soccer in high school and then at Gordon College. In her 20s, while working in California, she ran a few marathons.
“I think finding opportunities to challenge ourselves mentally and physically is a great way to inspire growth in ourselves and others,” Tate said.
After having her second child, Tate decided to run the New York City Marathon in November of 2023 for a charity that her boss supported.
“We just had a wonderful time fundraising and being a part of that special weekend in New York City,” she said.
After already being in what she describes as “marathon mode,” she felt that running for the Hopkinton Freedom Team would be another great opportunity. And after running other marathons and watching the Boston Marathon, she could finally run the event that starts in her town.
The Hopkinton Freedom Team is an organization dedicated to creating unity in the community by fostering inclusion, solidarity and compassion. It does this by co-organizing the annual Pride Parade, running a hotline for reporting bias-motivated issues, and bringing speakers to Hopkinton. Tate learned about the organization through flyers at the library and has attended some events. Recognizing the importance of supporting such initiatives, Tate reached out and decided to run the Boston Marathon as part of the organization’s fundraising efforts.
“I have had friends who’ve struggled in this area of diversity, equity and inclusion, so it hits close to home and close to my heart,” Tate said. “When I think about raising funds for a charity that helps reduce some of the burden that comes with potentially being different, that really means a lot to me.”
Tate says she keeps those friends in mind while she trains.
To raise money, Tate has used her physical therapy background, offering to design exercise programs for donors. She also has run some programming with the gym Resilience Fitness and has an online fundraising page (givengain.com/project/christin-raising-funds-for-hopkinton-freedom-team-73319).
“The money Christin raises will help us to bring more events to the community and continue working towards social justice free of charge,” explained Cathleen Dinsmore, president and founder of the Hopkinton Freedom Team.
Tate is not the only person in her house training for a marathon. Her husband, Daniel, is running his first marathon to benefit the Hopkinton Police Department.
“He has committed to this marathon in a way I didn’t really expect, and we are excited to be there together,” Tate said.
Both of them have been training while raising two young children (a 4-year-old and 18-month-old). They are able to manage it by waking up early and staggering their long run days, so one parent can stay home with the children.
“We didn’t plan this. It just kind of like fell into us, and I think when an opportunity arises like this, you have to say yes,” Tate said.
0 Comments