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Running marathon is experience local runners will ‘never forget’

Runners from Wave 1 move past the start line. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

For Hopkinton runners, the 130th Boston Marathon was all about leaning on each other and the running community.

“The crowds truly carried me all 26.2 miles,” Alex Stenquist wrote in an email. “I saw so many faces on the course, and hearing my name called over and over by people who didn’t even know me propelled me forward.”

Stenquist ran this year for Hopkinton Girls Youth Lacrosse. An experienced marathoner, she finished the race in 3 hours, 58 minutes, according to the Boston Athletic Association’s race results. She ran most of the race alongside friend and first-time marathoner Grant Van Ranst.

“Alex stayed with me almost to the very end,” Van Ranst, who supported Hopkinton Youth Soccer this year, told the Independent in an email. “She was just a bit ahead of me.” He acknowledged her support in his run, noting he also managed to make it to the end of the course in under four hours.

“I never stopped running the whole time,” Van Ranst noted. “I’m most proud of that.” Part of his success on race day he credited to the weather conditions. He wondered what his chance of success would have been if the course conditions had been different.

Temperatures in Hopkinton started around 40 degrees Monday morning and climbed along the course to about 50 degrees. Skies were mostly cloudy, with winds anticipated between 5-15 miles per hour.

The physical challenges were tough for both runners. “My legs were toast by Newton,” stated Steqnuist. Van Ranst, who has issues with a bad knee, started to feel it flare up around mile 22 along with hip and hamstring issues.

Andrea Marguerite, who ran for the Herren Project, said her legs tightened up about two miles from the finish. It was encouragement from Chis Herren, her charity’s founder, that helped her get back into the race.

“[It] was a moment I will never forget as he pulled me out of that feeling of ‘wow, this is never going to end,’ ” she wrote in an email. She added that she finished in 4 hours, 5 minutes — ahead of the time she initially had hoped for.

All three spoke to how running the Boston Marathon this year felt for them. “Running the marathon is so incredibly special, but running for a Hopkinton organization … is something I will never forget,” shared Stenquist.

“Overall, it was such a wonderful experience,” stated Marguerite. “Seeing all my friends in Wellesley was so motivating, and the crowd by [Boston College] was amazing.”

“I’m still absorbing,” Van Ranst admitted. “I survived. I thrived.”

— NICK SCHOFIELD

Latest News

Contractors will begin constructing a new sidewalk on Chestnut Street starting today.

Hopkinton High School girls golf coach Bill Phaneuf believes that his athletes could make it all the way to the state tournament if they play to their ability.

The annual Hopkinton Garden Club Plant Sale will take place May 9 at the Town Common.

Town meetings tonight include the Appropriation Committee (5), Board of Assessors (5:30) and Elementary School Building Committee (6).

Photo of the Day

A runner at the athletes village gets a photo in front of a replica of the Hopkinton Marathon Committee’s famous sign prior to the start of Monday’s Boston Marathon. Click here for more photos.

PHOTO/JERRY SPAR