Angela Perry is running the 2024 Boston Marathon to benefit local volunteer civic organization eHop.
Perry will be completing her sixth star of the Abbott World Marathon Majors — otherwise known as the Big Six: Chicago, Berlin, London, New York City, Tokyo and Boston. Despite the impressive achievement, “I’m not someone who was born to run,” she insisted. In fact, she started running just a few years ago.
It was a conversation at a dinner party that prompted her to start pounding the pavement. “A female friend said she wanted to run a marathon,” Perry recalled, “and I said, ‘Oh, I’ll do that!’ ”
What began on a whim turned into a quest. Like many former non-runners, Perry was “bit by the bug.”
“It’s a super-big challenge, of course, but it’s a super high as well — you have random people yelling your name, you get to accomplish something that very few people in the world accomplish. You just feel really fulfilled when you’re finished.”
Globetrotting took on a whole new meaning for the international flight attendant who calls Houston home.
“My husband, Carlton, thought running would be a cheap interest — buy a pair of shorts and running shoes and you’re done,” she said with a chuckle. “Now, we’ve traveled the world.”
She was preparing to depart with her family for a race in Tokyo when she spoke with the Hopkinton Independent. Son Caden, age 19, and daughter Addison, 16, are both athletes (Caden plays football at Bowdoin University in Maine; Addison is into lacrosse) and proud to cheer on Mom.
“They’ve seen me go from barely exercising at all to being able to run a marathon,” Perry shared.
That journey hasn’t been without obstacles. Perry suffered an ankle injury after her first marathon. Although it’s never completely healed, aqua-jogging — a low-impact, high-resistance water exercise — enabled her to recover enough to race.
“It’s more of a workout than most people realize,” she said. “I do 80% of my training in the pool.”
Perry said running has given her more than just the ability to complete a marathon, as it’s had a holistic impact on her life.
“I take more walks with my dog, I’m more interested in doing activities with friends that maybe I wouldn’t normally have done,” she reflected. “Now, I go hiking, I go surfing. I feel more capable than I felt before.”
In April, Perry is giving something back to the sport. She chose eHop (her fundraising page can be found at ehop.org/marathon) as her fundraising beneficiary for Boston 2024 because eHop “supports a community that supports runners,” she explained.
As stated on its website, eHop’s mission is to provide timely, factual information about key Hopkinton town matters with the goal of increasing government transparency and fostering civic engagement. Perry’s fundraising will contribute to eHop’s annual budget — and by extension, to Hopkinton.
“I love being able to support the town that supports all the runners. Without Hopkinton, there’s no marathon,” Perry declared.
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