Sometimes we write about people who are working toward a goal or doing something really awesome that isn’t complete.
And it probably leaves all of you wondering how the story ends. Well, if you can remember all the way back to about six weeks ago, we told you about these two friends, Marshall Crane and Jeremy Woodward.
They both live in Concord and both just so happened to be training to run the Boston Marathon.
Woodward, who was running for Tedy’s Team (yes, the one created by former Patriot Tedy Bruschi,) ran Boston last year. Although Crane, who ran for the Greg Hill Foundation, had never completed a marathon. Before starting his training, Crane had never even run more than 5 or 6 miles in a row.
But we’re happy to report that both finished last Monday’s running of the 120th edition of the Boston Marathon.
During our interview with the two, Crane joked that he hoped to run with Woodward for at least the first six or seven minutes, but he actually finished ahead of Woodward and we’ll get to that in a minute.
The important thing was that both finished healthy, outside of some sore quads for Crane.
“It was just such a different experience,” said Crane, who used to watch the marathon as a student at Boston University.
Woodward ran over half the race with his brother Jamie, and the two were on pace for a time of 4:35. But with a little less than 10 miles to go, they came across Jamie Devlin, one of their Tedy’s Team teammates.
“As we were getting close to mile 17, one of our teammates was struggling pretty bad,” Woodward said.
They stopped and a short while later, Crane came running up. Crane and Jamie kept going, but Woodward stayed with Devlin while he received medical attention for cramping and dehydration.
“That really shows you the heart of Jeremy,” Crane said. “What he did, that was awesome.”
And then Woodward walked the remaining 9-plus miles with Devlin, which is why Woodward finished in 6:03:57, instead of an hour and a half earlier.
“I said ‘We’re getting you to the finish.’ I wanted to get him there any way we could,” Woodward said. “For me, I could care less about the time. It’s about the cause.”
But it worked out well because Woodward was actually Devlin’s mentor.
“It was a perfect fit for us to spend time together,” Woodward said. “It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”
Crane, who had lots of friends and family along the course, finished the 26.2-mile run from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in 5:22:34.
“Crossing that finish line was the end of a long journey,” Crane said.
Like they kept saying during our initial interview, it’s all about the journey and enjoying the moment.
Last year, it was rainy and cold, but this year the sky was clear and it was warm.
“The first 13 miles was just so hot,” Crane said. “That was probably only the third time I’d run since November without gloves.”
“It was certainly different than last year,” Woodward said.
On the fundraising side of things, Crane brought in about $9,300 for the Greg Hill Foundation, while the Woodward brothers added over $12,200 to the Tedy’s Team total.
And just think, with a little training, that could be you next year.
