Let me tell you, Boston takes no prisoners - Vince Hemingson (April 17, 2006)

Vince Hemingson

Boston is one tough marathon course. Reading about the route and even driving the course doesn't really prepare you for what it is like to race at Boston. Everybody who struggles with the Boston Beast can take some solace in the fact that even four-time winner Bill Rodgers dropped out of his first Boston race at twenty miles. I often caution people in training for the marathon to remember the saying, "You have to respect the race, you have to respect the distance." This goes double for Boston. After completing my first Patriots Day race, I developed a whole new reverence and respect for the Boston Marathon.

April 21, 2014 – “Toronto runner conquers double Boston Marathon — and much more”

Jean-Paul Bedard

Two weeks prior to last year's Boston Marathon I disclosed to family and friends that I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I was on the street when the bombs went off... After five months off work with PTSD, I decided to return to Boston and run a double marathon to raise funds and awareness of childhood sexual abuse. During the week leading up to the race, I did over 25 media interviews about the project.

Alyshah Hasham, a reporter for the Toronto Star, provided this introduction to my 2014 Boston story in her front page article the next day: