Thomas Guerra will run his first Boston Marathon as he finishes his last year of college.

There are two things Hopkinton native Thomas Guerra says are most challenging about training for the Boston Marathon: balance and wind.

“The timing of the marathon has been the hardest thing,” Guerra said. Between school, work and training, he’s had to strike a delicate balance.

The wind and cold also are a pain to deal with.

“I think that’s been the hardest aspect, physically,” Guerra said, emphasizing the difficulty of training in Boston in the winter.

The Hopkinton High School graduate is a senior at Northeastern University. In between finishing his bachelor’s degree in international business and a minor in Spanish while he trains, he also has to keep his eye on his next steps after college.

“I think I want to end up somewhere in the consulting world,” Guerra said when asked about his career options. 

“It’s a competitive market right now,” he added.

Boston will be Guerra’s first marathon, but he is up for the challenge. He started running in middle school, though he says it was “nothing serious.” When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, his interest in running picked back up.

“I needed something to do, so I thought: let’s pick up running,” Guerra said.

Since then, he has dabbled in more competitive running events. While he has yet to run a full 26.2 miles, he’s participated in a number of 5K races around Hopkinton as well as a half marathon on Cape Cod.

As the running bug continued to bite, he decided it was time to give the Boston Marathon a try.

“I have absolutely grown to love [running] and thought I was ready for the challenge of Boston,” Guerra explained.

Run with Tenacity

Guerra is running this year’s Boston Marathon for a cause that he knows well: Boston-based nonprofit Tenacity. 

“It’s a great organization that I’m really proud to be running for,” said Guerra.

Guerra explained that the charity works with at-risk youth and supports them with education and athletics. The program integrates athletics — particularly tennis — with literacy, tutoring and mentoring programs to “help build academic motivation and achievement,” according to the Tenacity website.

Guerra’s first exposure to Tenacity was through the Westboro Tennis and Swim Club. His father now sits on the organization’s board of directors.

“I think it’s an organization that aligns very closely with my interests,” Guerra said.

He described how the process of getting the nod to fundraise for Tenacity was competitive, and expressed his gratitude for the chance to run for a cause he believes in.

Noted Guerra: “Not everybody gets [this opportunity].”

Guerra’s fundraising goal for Tenacity is ambitious. Through late March, he had raised just under 90% of his $10,000 goal. He notes on his fundraising page that the funds will “help shape the next generation of leaders and changemakers.”

Despite how close he was to achieving his fundraising goal, Guerra said he was worried about asking his community for support.

“Fundraising is not something I’ve ever had to do before,” said Guerra. “Asking friends and family to help me raise $10,000 is definitely a big ask.”

Finish line the goal

As much as Guerra would love to have a consistent mile time of 7 minutes and 30 seconds, completing the Boston Marathon is the primary goal.

“Just being able to cross that finish line is an accomplishment in and of itself,” he said.

He expressed excitement over Boston being his first marathon. The fact that the race starts in his hometown and ends where he currently lives is not lost on him, either.

Guerra expects his family, friends and roommates will be cheering him on at the finish line. Among them will be his dad, who himself has run the Boston Marathon several times.

Part of Guerra’s inspiration for running the marathon is the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 and how the city recovered from the tragedy. His father ran that year and had finished 15 minutes before the bombs went off at the finish line.

“Just seeing how the city recovered from that and how resilient people were kind of inspired me to do this race even more,” said Guerra.

However the marathon plays out, Guerra is ready for the challenge.

“[It] should be an interesting one, but I’m very excited,” he said.