Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a grit meter for me. I have raced it every year since 2013 and will continue to do so as long as I make the cut .

Streaking the world’s oldest marathon for over 10 years has been an honor—and a privilege. Throughout that time I saw how it changed after the 2013 bombing , raced both years Meb Keflezighi and Des Linden won their laurels, and ran virtually during the pandemic.

Boston is the holy grail for many runners. Every year, Boston-hopefuls train to meet qualifying times, only for some to get shut out by the influx of much faster registered runners. For the 2026 race, you had to run 4:34 faster than the actual Boston qualifying time (BQ) for your age group. Every couple of years, the time standard goes down, making qualifying even harder.…