Boston Marathon athletes' stories: Running ‘helps me to grow and heal'
We spoke to athletes about what drove them to take part in the Boston Marathon, or to help others when their feet failed
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For Caleb McCoy, completing the 2024 Boston Marathon is yet another milestone. “It helps me to grow and heal and stay out of trouble,” he said, after 15 years struggling with addiction.
Some 30,000 people made their way through the Scream Tunnel, up Heartbreak Hill and down Kenmore Square on Marathon Monday in Boston.
Among them was Caleb McCoy, who said at the Boston Marathon finish line that running has opened doors for him amid a 15-year struggle with addiction.
"Eleven years ago, I was shooting up meth and opioids," he said at the finish line.
Running, McCoy said, "helps me to grow and heal and stay out of trouble."
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Volunteers at the Boston Marathon Athletes Village in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, await the arrival of the runners buses as the sun rises.
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Rob Gronkowski poses with volunteers at the Boston Marathon starting line.
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Swiss athlete Marcel Hug takes first place in the men’s wheelchair professional field in the 128th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain crosses the finish line to win the Professional Women’s Wheelchair Division at the 128th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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The Boston Athletic Association’s unicorn flag hanging outside the Boston Public Library in Copley Square on Marathon Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Daffodils printed with the phrase, “Boston Strong,” by the nonprofit Marathon Daffodil are seen on a building stoop in Boston’s Back Bay on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain, right, and Marcel Hug of Switzerland pose with the trophy on the finish line after winning the professional Women’s and Men’s Wheelchair Divisions during the 128th Boston Marathon.
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Runners take off at the start of the 128th Boston Marathon.
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Former Patriots player and Boston Marathon Grand Marshall Rob Gronkowski posing for photos at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia crosses the finish line to win the Professional Men’s Division at the 128th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Hellen Obiri, of Kenya, raises her arms as she wins the women’s division at the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston.
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Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya hold the race trophy together after both taking first place in the men’s and women’s professional fields during the 128th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2024. The marathon includes around 30,000 athletes from 129 countries running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. The event is the world’s oldest annually run marathon. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Family members hold cut outs of Boston Marathon runner Alex Gornick on Heartbreak Hill in Newton, Massachusetts, during the Boston Marathon.
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A woman on Newbury Street holds a Boston Marathon support sign.
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The scene in Back Bay near the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, April 15, 2024.
When runners' feet failed, hands and heart prevailed.
Zach Prescott showed the kind of teamwork that's become commonplace in the final leg, helping to carry a fellow marathoner the last half-mile "and plopped him across the finish line," he said.
"I went out for a personal goal and that went out the window, so the last four miles became enjoying it and helping people out," he explained.
The crowds at Marathon Monday are some of the best in sports. Among them was Alex Gornick's family, stationed atop Heartbreak Hill, each carrying a different cutout of his face making a silly expression.
Family members hold cut outs of Boston Marathon runner Alex Gornick on Heartbreak Hill in Newton, Massachusetts, during the Boston Marathon.
They'd been out to support him in the past, too — they this is his fourth, Boston Marathon, they said, adding that they expected him to cross the finish line in about 3-and-a-half hours despite carrying a niggling injury.
Also leaning on the support of her family was former champion Desiree Linden, whose father attended for the first time in years since being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
"I think there's always tough moments and you think about the people that are watching you and who are expecting you," she said, adding that her parents told her she "did an awesome job."
