Harlenne Burg poses for a photo during the Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K race.

Until Harlenne Burg moved to Hopkinton, she didn’t realize how infectious running could be.

“They say when you live in Hopkinton, you catch the running bug,” said Burg, “but I never believed them.”

Burg has come down with that bug, and as a result, the Boston Marathon will be the first of what might be many more marathons to come.

“I like challenges,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a one-and-done for me.”

Burg and her family have lived in Hopkinton for the past 13 years. While she said she always has been inspired by the town and all the marathon runners, it was a former client of hers that nudged her into becoming a runner.

A licensed aesthetician, Burg opened Harlenne SkinCare & Studio on Church Street two years ago. Before that, she worked in Ashland, where she met a woman named Nicole Ferrari.

Ferrari lived with the neurodegenerative disease ALS, which impacts nerve cells in the spinal cord as well as the brain. As the disease progresses, ALS results in greater loss of muscle control over time. According to Burg, complications from the disease resulted in Ferrari’s death in 2021.

“I saw the whole process of her declining,” said Burg, who would make house calls to provide beauty care for Ferrari. 

As the two got to know each other, Ferrari began to encourage Burg to take more chances in both her personal and professional lives. 

“She said, ‘Harlenne, you can do whatever you want as long as you get your mind into it,’ ” Burg recalled. After more encouragement, Burg finally agreed she would run the next Sharon Timlin Memorial 5K — a Hopkinton race that raises money for ALS research — on behalf of her client.

Three months after that conversation, Ferrari passed away, and Burg signed up for the 5K.

That first race has snowballed into so much more. Despite a heel fracture putting her on bed rest for five months, Burg has run a handful of 5Ks, half marathons and the Falmouth Road Race.

The success of completing those races convinced Burg it was time to do something bigger: the Boston Marathon.

“I said it’s now or never, and I wanted to try the marathon,” she explained. However, she clarified that the memory of her friend and client is driving her toward this goal more than anything else.

“The only reason I’m doing this is because I was inspired by Nicole,” she said.

Training ‘horrible,’ but mentors help

The mental and physical aspects of training for a marathon are tough challenges Burg has had to face.

“Getting up at 6 a.m. and going out there in 10 degree weather, it’s brutal,” Burg said of her training through the winter. “I give people a lot of credit.”

“It’s horrible,” she joked.

Burg is happy for the challenge, noting that she has faced bigger obstacles. For the entrepreneur and mother of two who came to the United States from Brazil in 1999 not knowing English and with little money to her name, a marathon seems easy in comparison.

Having support along the way has made the challenge of training for the Boston Marathon easier for Burg. In recent weeks, she has begun running with a group of veteran women marathon runners from the Hopkinton Running Club and says the experience has been transformative.

“This group of women has changed my life,” Burg said. “I feel very fortunate.”

Burg described some of the wisdom the women have passed on to her, which includes stretching and doing her best to remain injury-free. She’s also learned what to focus on when it comes to running the race.

“They run marathons left and right, and it’s not about time [for them], it’s about finishing and not getting hurt,” said Burg.

Promoting reading, a mile at a time

Burg will be running the Boston Marathon this year to raise funds for the Hopkinton Public Library Foundation. It’s a cause she is enthusiastic about supporting.

“The library is everything,” said Burg. “They do so much for the community. … I’m very happy that the library chose me.”

The HPLF helps support the public library by raising funds for renovations, expansions, programs and other critical library projects. Through its marathon fundraising alone, the HPLF has raised over $120,000 over the years to support the library.

By late March, Burg already had blown past her $6,000 fundraising goal. She is still taking donations on her fundraising page and is over $7,500 — a feat she said is the result of the town’s generosity.

“That’s what I love about a small community,” Burg said. “People just come together and help.”

Added Burg: “This is a great helping community; I always have support.”