With the Boston Marathon just a few days away, nearly 30,000 runners are gearing up to cross the finish line.
Over the last few months, these runners have trained, fundraised + raised awareness about the 200+ nonprofit organizations they’re running for.
We spoke with three marathon participants running for local causes — House of Possibilities, the Hoyt Foundation, and Boston Scores.
These organizations are a part of CharityTeams, which help runners complete their athletic and fundraising goals.
As a swim coach for the Special Olympics in Worcester, Kristina Sullivan has always wanted to support a charity like House of Possibilities (HOPe) which provides disability services to 300+ children and adults from over 60 communities across Massachusetts. The children she coaches and teaches have motivated her to run for Team HOPe and raise money for their cause.
Similar to HOPe, the Hoyt Foundation also promotes the inclusion of disabled young people. Troy Hoyt has always been involved with the Hoyt Foundation, started by his grandfather in 1989. His involvement has changed over the years, but as he’s gotten older he realized the kind of impact he can have supporting the foundation and raising awareness about the work they do.
Boston Scores provides K-12 students with after-school soccer + enrichment programs. After becoming a teacher and soccer coach, Ali Welch wanted to help students have the same connection to athletics that she did growing up. She started coaching for Boston Scores a few years ago, and is now proud to run for the Boston Scores Team this year.
Let’s get to know the three runners, the work they’re doing, and how they feel leading up to the big day.
Can you share your full name, job title + three things about yourself?
Kristina Sullivan - Team HOPe for House of Possibilities: I’m Kristina Sullivan. I’m a first grade teacher in Marlborough public schools — which is great. I love Disney. The Disney Marathon was my first in-person marathon. That was really fun. I just got engaged in November so I’ve been planning a wedding, which has been pretty exciting. And the last thing is, I got my reading specialist license. I like to incorporate that as much as I can with my job and that’s something I’m really passionate about.
Troy Hoyt - Team Hoyt for the Hoyt Foundation: My name is Troy Hoyt. I’m a heavy equipment operator — I do construction for a regular full-time job. I love running. I just became a running coach, so hopefully, I get to do that full-time instead and have that take off and be my thing. And then just in my spare time, I like to hang out with my friends.
Ali Welch - Team Boston Scores for Boston Scores: I go by Ali Welch, and right now I’m an eighth grade history teacher and grade level chair at KIPP Academy Boston Middle School, our K through eight school. I started coaching for Boston Scores in the spring of 2018. I also coached at my school, for KIPP Academy Boston, that following fall when I started as a teacher there. I graduated from Harvard in December of 2017, so after that is when I got into teaching and coaching. I play soccer as well. I’ve grown up playing soccer — I played throughout high school, and then played club soccer at Harvard.
What made you decide to run the Boston Marathon this year?
Sullivan: Who doesn’t want to run the Boston Marathon? This will be my first time running it. So hopefully all goes well and I don’t break anything. But it’s just such a bucket item that you want to complete, especially around Massachusetts. When you say ‘I did the marathon,’ everyone knows what you’re talking about.
Hoyt: I did it last year in honor of my grandfather’s passing. Then I was like, ‘Oh, that was actually kind of fun. Maybe I’ll be crazy enough to do it again.’ And here I am doing it again this year, and my brother’s doing it with me. So hopefully, we’ll be able to do it together.
Welch: I got an email from Boston Scores saying they were creating their marathon team for the first time in, I think, five years. It felt like a sign because I’d always wanted to fundraise for an organization that I was connected to, and could speak on behalf that I could really show my passion for through training and fundraising. My family has also been really big fans of the Boston Marathon — my parents live about a mile from Heartbreak Hill. After graduating, I would go to their house on marathon Monday and just watch from Heartbreak Hill. It’s extremely moving and emotional just to see the runners at that point in the marathon and everyone out cheering, rain or shine.
Can you talk a little bit about the mission behind the organization you’re running for? And why you connect with it?
Sullivan: Inclusion is really big for me and that’s something that House of Possibilities is really big on. They give a lot of people opportunities to do things that they wouldn’t normally do. They give them opportunities to get out of their house, give them a nice location where they’re able to work with peers that are similar to them, and friends that are different. I think especially after COVID it was huge to have that place to get back to. I really was appreciative of House of Possibilities for doing this.
Hoyt: Growing up with my uncle and how he was disabled and had cerebral palsy, we get to help other people with disabilities like that. It could be really anything — for example, someone who needs help with mobility, [the Hoyt Foundation] donates a running chair so they’re able to go for a walk outside. I’d say ever since growing up with [my uncle], we just always wanted to help out and spread the message that everybody should be included no matter what.
Welch: Boston Scores is really primarily focused on grades three through eight in both public schools and supporting soccer curriculum. They built out this high school support plan, where they have professional development programs and college visits, and different workshops for the high schoolers to participate in. It’s students from all different schools, which has been really cool to learn more about the high schools around Boston and to see that these girls now have a team that can be competitive and isn’t connected to their schools.
What does your training schedule look like?
Sullivan: I run at least four days a week, and I do strength training at least two days a week. Sometimes they’re combined, and sometimes they’re separate. I’m very fortunate that my family has a treadmill, so when it was really cold or snowy or raining, I was doing a lot of runs on there. Unfortunately, it can be really boring, especially if you’re running double-digit miles. Now with the warmer weather, I’ve been able to go outside, and there are some hills in Worcester. So that’s been giving me a little bit more confidence. They’re not nearly as big as the hills in Boston though. That’s going to be challenging.
Hoyt: Usually Mondays and Wednesdays I do my actual runs — the long run on Saturday. And then Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the gym. Friday, I take that completely off to chill out and do whatever. Then Sunday is a rest day and I go to the gym to stretch out, swim in the pool, or do light stuff.
Welch: Boston Scores gave us an Excel spreadsheet with the weeks leading up to the race. It went over how much you should run and the paces you should be going for. From there, you make your own schedule. I followed that pretty closely in the beginning, but I’d say it’s definitely dropped off a bit as grad school has picked up. In January, I didn’t have that many grad school classes so I was more on top of it. But now, I just run on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and then I play soccer on Sunday. It’s been very condensed in the past month or so.
Is there anything that you’re worried about, or challenges that you’ve had to face while training?
Sullivan: Probably with everyone else, the hills. It’s gonna be a little nerve-wracking. Heartbreak Hill, as everyone knows it, but what are you gonna do? It’s gonna be fun. The crowd is amazing. That’s the only thing that gives me some anxiety. I’ve been trying to plan for it more, but we’ll see when we get there.
Hoyt: I think I’ve had runner’s knee. It started in my left and then that went away, so I was like, ‘Oh, cool.’ Two weeks of training went by and then the right knee started hurting and I was like, “I can’t catch a break.’ it just alternates back and forth between [both knees], but other than that I haven’t really had any major challenges. I’m just gonna ice and take precautions leading up to it.
What’s your plan for celebrating after you cross the finish line?
Sullivan: That’s going to be so great. I’m not taking that medal off for at least a week. My family and I are going to go out in Natick to the Cheesecake Factory. So that’s gonna be really exciting. I don’t drink, but maybe Shirley Temples after.
Hoyt: Depending on where we go, I’ll either get a really big cheeseburger or a really big steak. And then get chocolate cake or something for dessert with our family. I know my brother would probably get a big steak.
Welch: No formal plans. A lot of my family lives in Boston, so they’re all planning to come out and support me, and I have my roommate from college who is going to be in town. It’s the week of our April break for school, so I’ll be off that whole week to recover. I’m hoping to do some sort of celebration at my parents’ right after.
Is there any tip you would give someone running or watching the marathon this year?
Sullivan: [For those watching] I heard that there are specific spots where you can stand [that offer] more accessibility. I would definitely plan it out so you can see your friends [as they run]. I’ve actually never been to the Boston Marathon, so this is going to be new for me too.
Hoyt: Personally for me, the biggest tip that I’ve given to people I know that are running is, during the water stops, walk through them and get as much hydration as you can because that’s the biggest thing. It’ll take a few seconds off your overall time, but being fully hydrated and not cramping up is a huge thing with all the hills that we have to go through on the course.
Welch: I think consistency has been really important for me and always getting to a certain amount of miles that you want each week. So even if I miss a few days, making sure to at least go for three runs a week, because that’s what I told myself I wanted to do. And sticking to that. I think giving yourself grace is also just as important. So knowing when it’s okay to miss something and just take care of yourself, mentally and physically, in order to be better for the next one.
