Aurora Woman Runs Boston Marathon For First Time Since Bombing

AURORA, IL — People from around the world flocked to Boston Oct. 11 for the annual Boston Marathon. It was the city's first race in more than 900 days due to the pandemic, the first to be held in October instead of April, and the marathon's 125th anniversary.

It was one of those marathons that will go down in history. But for Aurora resident Abby Omerza, this wasn't her first "special" Boston Marathon.

The recent race was the 50-year-old Aurora runner's second. Her first was in 2013, the same year a bomb exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring 260.

"I came through the finish run probably half an hour or so before the bombs went off, and I looked back at how easily I could have still been on the streets when that happened," she said, crediting her safety to a few seemingly trivial decisions she made prior to the race.

Looking back, Omerza said one pivotal moment was when she and her sister, who traveled with her as support, decided to meet at their nearby hotel after the race instead of on the field.

"I really think that it was more my sister that would have been in danger because it was the spectators who were primarily injured, and so I was very grateful that we made decisions that led to both of us being off the streets when it happened," she said.

After that day, Omerza said she wanted to go back to run, "partly as a support of how great of a city Boston is and that it was such a sad thing they were attacked that way."

Eight years later, she returned for another historic Boston Marathon, where she finished the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 51 minutes and 56 seconds.

"Boston is a tough course, very hilly," said Omerza, who works as a personal trainer and running coach. "It deserves a lot of respect just for that."

Marathon day is a celebration in Boston, she said, and this year, spectators were extra enthusiastic. People were celebratory and happy to be back.

"[In the past], there's always a Red Sox game on the same day," she said, laughing. "It was actually kind of nice to not have it be quite so crowded with the baseball game, but there are so many traditions around it being in April that even though it was kind of an exciting change to have it in the fall, I think it'll be nice to have that return to normalcy."

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Some runners had to wait to participate in the Boston Marathon for almost a year since being accepted prior to cancelations and delays. Omerza, though, was one of the people who applied and qualified when marathon organizers opened running slots earlier this year. To qualify, she used her time from Geneva's BQ.2 marathon this spring.

"The way it worked out, of course they didn't know leading up to it what would happen with Boston ... [I] was able to submit my registration for Boston and get accepted, so that was really exciting for me and to have the spring and summer to train for it," she said.

Omerza ran cross country and track in high school, but didn't start consistently racing and participating in marathons until about 10 years ago when she could "get my life to a place where all the pieces came together and I could run consistently and accomplish goals that I always had but hadn't been able to work on," she said.

In the '80s, Omerza's dad ran marathons but was never able to qualify for the one in Boston, she said. But it planted a seed in her mind that has since led her to Boston twice.

"He never did it, but I was very aware of it and had that goal even then when I was in high school that someday I wanted to run Boston," she said. "Just for a long time, it just didn't even seem possible, but when I started running again, I was running well enough that I thought, 'You know what, I can qualify for Boston.'"

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It'll be a quick turnaround for the next race since the Boston Marathon is returning to its traditional time on Patriots' Day in April 2022. There might be a few from October who will return, but Omerza said she's not planning on going back so soon. Although she loves Boston and likes to run the marathon occasionally, she said she has other goals she wants to work on in the meantime before deciding to go back.

"Maybe in a few years," Omerza said. "I told my husband maybe every 10 years. He said, 'You'll want to come back sooner than 10 years.' You're probably right. Maybe five years."

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