Several 02818 Runners To Participate In Boston Marathon

It is the ultimate marathon, the storied marathon, the marathon every long-distance runner dreams of participating in, and it happens to take place just just up the road in Boston. There are 10 residents of East Greenwich signed up to run in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Here are three of their stories.

"My first marathon was Cox in 2008 and thought I would never do another one, until I realized I qualified for the Boston Marathon," recalled EG resident Krista Jarrell. "So the next year I ran Boston. This is my third Boston Marathon. I ran my first in 2009 and really enjoyed it. I wore a shirt that had my name and said mother of 8 with their picture on the back. People were cheering me the whole way."

(Jarrell is indeed the mother of eight – six boys, two girls – ages 22 to 8.) 

"My next Boston Marathon was last year. It in the high 80s, 90 [degrees]. The whole way I just kept saying, 'Don't stop,' only for water every mile and when I saw a fire hose I ran through it just to get cooled off. It was the hardest race I have ever done.

"The greatest joy was to see five of my kids at the end waiting for me. One son said he was sweating more then me after running 26.2 miles. This is my sixth marathon. I was going to run New York last fall but due to Sandy it got cancelled. I plan to run it in 2014.

"What I want for Monday is good weather in the 50s, to run the best I can and finish, to see my family at the end, with my sister and my 80-year-old mother."

Julie Oh, another EG resident, ran her first Boston last year.

"I have only ran Boston last year in the blazing heat," said Oh. "I had a horrible marathon – walked a lot. So then the following week I ran the Cox Rhode Island marathon and re-qualified for this year."

She continued: "This Boston will be my 30th marathon but now that I am middle age I have no expected [a specific finish] time, just hoping the great crowd pushes me to the end. I've been through many finish lines – Boston is the grandest of all. The volunteers, spectators, and athletes are so nice and helpful. It's an amazing experience."

She said her son, Luke Wagner, and two other EG kids, Will O'Connell and Paige Smith, will run the Boston Marathon 5K Sunday, which has the same finish as the Boston Marathon.

"I am running the marathon with my good friends Rick and Leigh Del Sesto," who are also from EG. "Rick has ran it several times and this is Leigh's first."

Mark Schwager, who sits on the Fire District Commission and a former Town Council member, is also running the Boston on Monday for the third time. That is, the third "legit" time, as he said. 

"I ran once as a 'bandit' in college," Schwager said. He will be running as a member of the Rhode Island Road Runners. He's been running ever since junior high, when he was rooting for Frank Shorter in the 1972 Olympic Marathon and Shorter won. "That was pretty inspiring."

When he turned 40, Schwager decided to start running marathons. He does one or two year, he said. 

"Boston's just wonderful. The expo is my favorite event." Schwager was referring to the expo that takes place the days before the race, where runners go to pick up their number and lots and lots of exhibitors are there with the latest running equipment. It's a candy store for runners.

He will stay over in Boston Sunday night and he thinks his wife, Pat Flanagan and one of their daughters will be at the finish line. "It's a great day."

"When I went to the office yesterday, everybody at work was wearing a bib that said 'Team Schwager.' That was really nice," he said.

If you have run the Boston, tell us about it in the comments section. And for those who are participating this year (on this list or not), I'd love to hear how it goes and get a photo or two. Post photos above and leave a comment with your experience. Thanks!

Below are the names of all the runners from East Greenwich. You can follow them by clicking here.

Lenora Del Sesto

Richard Del Sesto

Amanda DeMagistris

Anna Greeley

Evelyn Jansen

Krista Jarrell

Lisa Meenan

Julie Oh

Mark Schwager

Michael Thibodeau

Good Luck!