April 15, 2013 - “Why are they rerouting the course this close to the finish line?”

Vicky King

I did not start running until I was 48 years old. I decided I would run one marathon, just to see if I could do it. So I ran the Santa Barbara Marathon in 2010 at the age of 54 and finished it in 4:11:10. Not a BQ time (4:00:00), but I was elated with being able to accomplish this feat. I was glad to cross that off my bucket list and never have to run another marathon! But as many runners can testify, something happened, and I found myself registering for the local Surgical Artistry Modesto Marathon in March of 2012 to run alongside my Sole Sisters.

It just so happened I ran well enough to BQ (I needed to do it under 4:10:00 and my time was 4:04:24). A dream I’d never even had suddenly blossomed and I found myself strongly desiring to go to Boston and run the marathon! As a bonus, I also took first in my age group. What a wonderful and unbelievable surprise!

April 16, 2007 – My road back to Boston went through Ventura

Lauren Padula

As a college student in the city, I made running the Boston Marathon for a charity team a before-graduation goal. On April 16, 2007, I checked that goal off the list, and in the process caught the marathon bug. 4:25:31. My very first marathon. I remember being in tears. Tears of accomplishment, yes; but mostly of pain.

Later that year I ran Chicago (4:27:15), and then work and life took me from Boston to San Diego. After taking a few years to settle in, I decided to make a push to qualify for Boston at the 2010 San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon. I had the race every runner has nightmares about: I bonked at mile 16 and never recovered. 4:12:55. I was devastated. Maybe marathons weren't for me. And so I retired from marathon running.

April 21, 2014 - In the right place at the right time: How a race I had given up on became a reality.

Dennis Lebman

Running in the Boston Marathon for me was supposed to be a one and done deal: A bucket list item, a goal I set to celebrate turning 50 last year. Boston for long distance runners is the "Super Bowl" of marathons. You have to have a qualifying time on a certified marathon course to gain entry, or raise a lot of money for a charity. I got my qualifier "BQ" for the 2013 Boston Marathon in May of 2012 at the Ojai to Ocean Marathon with a time of 3:29:38 which was a BQ by only :22. Everyone who wanted to run the 2013 Boston Marathon and had a qualifying time was able to register and get accepted within the first few weeks of registration.

Four weeks before Boston last year I ran the 2013 LA Marathon and I got another BQ I could use for the 2014 Boston Marathon. My time was the exact same - 3:29:38. I hadn't really considered running Boston a second time, as I was focused on my upcoming trip and my first Boston.

April 15, 2013 – “I was overwhelmed with excitement, telling myself I was here, running the BOSTON MARATHON!”

Dennis Lebman

When I first started running in Sept 2010, I never could have dreamed I would ever run in the Boston Marathon. In November 2010, I ran my first race the Santa Clarita Half Marathon and I remember at the turn off from the South Fork Trail onto the two bridges where the half and full split off, thinking no way could I double that distance. I had a hard enough time trying to stay ahead of the guy with the balloons who was pacing the four hour group and two hour half. But it was my sister who quickly had me change my mind to run a full at the 2011 LA Marathon.

I finished my first marathon in 3:35:08 in the pouring rain. It wasn't until then I found out I was five minutes and eight seconds from qualifying for Boston. It was also then I realized that maybe, just maybe, it was possible. It was around that time I found out that the qualifying standards would become harder. But fortunately for me I would be turning 50 in February of 2013, and the same sub 3:30 BQ would remain for me: I set a goal to run the 2013 Boston Marathon to celebrate the milestone of turning 50. But it wasn't as simple as I first thought as I failed to BQ in my next two attempts at the 2011 Santa Clarita Marathon and at the 2012 LA Marathon.