For someone who’s never done it before (us included), the thought of running a marathon is what you might call a little crazy. All right, it’s a lot crazy.
You spend hours running each week, most of the time by yourself, for months in a row and as your training progresses, the mileage only increases. You run in the rain and the snow, when it’s freezing out and before most people wake up for the day. It takes you away from your friends and family and forces you to actually watch what you put in your body.
And no matter how strict you are with your diet and how close you stick to the training plan, a fluke roll of an ankle or lingering cramp on race day can dash your goal of finishing the 26.2 miles.
Jeremy Woodward can tell you all about what it’s like to train and run in a marathon. He completed New York City a few years ago and finished Boston last year as a member of Tedy’s Team, the one created by former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. Last year, Woodward ran for his dad who passed away one month after.
“Boston has a mystique and magical essence to it,” Woodward said. “There’s something truly inspiring about it.”
This year, Woodward is not only training to do it all over again on April 18, making the long trek from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, but he’s been the go-to for advice for one of his longtime friends, Marshall Crane, who will be running his first marathon.
“I think we talk more now than we ever have,” Crane said. “He’s been like a coach and a trainer for me.”
You see, while Woodward has run marathons and finished Ironmans, Crane had never run more than five or six miles before his training began in early November – and that was back when he played Division I basketball a decade and a half ago.
“For me it’s a huge jump,” Crane said.
But when Woodward finished Boston last year, Crane got motivated.
“I told him last year, ‘If you finish it this year, I’m going to try and get on a team,’ ” Crane said.
So he reached out to three or four teams and one said yes – the Greg Hill Foundation.
“They make a huge difference in so many people’s lives,” Crane said.
He found out in mid October that he’ll be one of 10 team members running for the nonprofit.
“When I got the acceptance email, I immediately sent it to Jeremy,” Crane said.
Woodward, who if you didn’t know went through two open heart surgeries at the age of 22 and 29 years old, will run again for Tedy’s Team after being selected as one of 30 runners from a pool of more than 350 applicants. His brother Jamie will also run for Tedy’s Team.
“As long as I’m able to do this, health wise, Tedy’s Team is the one I want to run with,” Woodward said.
And in addition to the training, which we’ll get into in a minute, there’s also the fundraising aspect of running for a nonprofit organization. Each team has a fundraising requirement to secure a bib. Crane needs to bring in $5,000 and the Woodward brothers are doing it together, needing to amass $10,800.
“If you told us 17 years ago when we were in high school that we’d be doing an interview together in preparation for running the Boston Marathon, we’d say you’re crazy,” Woodward said.
The Woodwards were at $8,100 as of last week, getting a nice boost from the Harlem Wizards game in January that racked up $5,300, including a generous $1,000 sponsorship.
Crane has been doing most of his fundraising through social media, under the hashtag RunMarshallRun. Most of it’s been small donations from friends and family, but it has added up to about $3,600 so far. Crane even donated to Woodward’s efforts and Woodward plans to do the same.
“It adds up. Every little bit helps,” Crane said. “I’m pleasantly surprised where I’m at.”
Despite knowing a lot of the same people, there’s no fighting for dollars.
“We have similar circles and similar friends,” Woodward said.
“But we’re supporting each other. It’s not a competition,” Crane added.
Now when it comes to training, anything is better than what Woodward had to deal with last year. With snowstorm after snowstorm and some bitterly cold days, the miles became increasingly more difficult.
“Last year was really about mental toughness,” Woodward said. “This year we’ve been spoiled, but you still have to do your homework. You can’t cram it in.”
And after the not-so-glamorous conditions at last year’s marathon, both have been trying to train in all kinds of elements.
“You never know what race day is going to be like,” Woodward said.
Crane, who always runs with a silver coin his mom gave him with an angel on one side and ‘courage’ on the other, has a training regimen set up by the Hill Foundation. He usually runs on his own on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and then goes to Boston on Saturdays for the big runs, where the team meets to run a portion of the marathon course. It started with four miles, and grows each week. Crane just did an 18-miler last weekend. On Wednesdays and Fridays, he takes part in Jeremy’s Boot Camp, run by Woodward, and goes to the YMCA. Sunday is his day of rest, which is understandable after running all those miles the day before.
“You’ll have good weeks and you’ll have bad weeks,” Crane said.
Woodward trains six days a week, running three or four of them and adding in biking, swimming and martial arts during the other two. Because Woodward isn’t just training for Boston next month, he’s also doing Ironman Mont-Tremblant in August.
They’ve done some running together, but not a ton, although since both charities will be among the last wave to start the marathon, they hope to run at least a short time together.
“The first six to seven minutes hopefully I’ll keep pace with him,” Crane said.
“My goal is to run with Marshall for a little bit because he might need an IV,” Woodward joked.
Sure, they both have time goals they’d like to meet, but it’s not about hours, minutes or place.
“Ultimately it’s about finishing,” Crane said. “I want to enjoy the moment. It’s just about crossing the finish line on Boylston Street.”
“My goal is just to finish healthy, successful, smiling and high fiving a lot of people,” Woodward said.
Woodward has a tattoo on his left forearm that reads “Enjoy the Journey.” And that’s exactly what these two longtime friends are doing.
For more info on the Greg Hill Foundation, visit thegreghillfoundation.org. To donate to Crane, visit crowdrise.com/thegreghillfoundatio/fundraiser/marshallcrane.
For info on Tedy’s Team, visit tedysteam2016.kintera.org and click on “sponsor a participant” to donate to Woodward.
And on April 2, beginning at 8:30 a.m., there will be a fundraiser at Jeremy’s Boot Camp for Woodward, Crane and Jr Linden. All three are running Boston for charity.
All money raised from that morning’s workouts will be split between the three. There will be boot camp classes, yoga, spinning and kickboxing. Call 721-2830 to RSVP.
