The 2013 Boston Marathon terror attack inspired Matt McGuire '05 to enter next year's marathon. He qualified for it earlier this year but is now competing for a chance to participate in the event.
After the Boston Marathon bombing, Matt McGuire ’05, a native Bostonian, felt compelled to participate in the 2014 Boston Marathon.
After much hard work, he went from no training to under 3:05 in 68 days. He traveled 1,374 miles from his home in Albuquerque to run in Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota. He qualified with a time of 3:04:35, but due to the large number of qualifiers, he did not get a bib number to participate in the event.
Now he is competing in the PowerBar Stronger Together Search, which will give four entries to race qualifiers who garner the highest number of votes on Facebook. People can vote for a runner once a day through Nov. 10.
Runners were asked to share one simple word to define their desire to run for Boston, followed by a brief story and image describing why they hope to participate in the event. McGuire’s word was “pride.”
“Personally, this race isn’t about a time, nor crossing off an item on my bucket-list. It’s about giving back to those who encourage thousands of runners, friends and strangers alike,” McGuire wrote in his entry. “It’s about saying thank you to those who protect our city. It’s about helping Boston heal.
“I need to run to pay tribute to the victims and my city the best way I know how. By doing what our city does best. Celebrating for 26.2 miles.”
Click here to vote for McGuire. You need to have a Facebook account to be able to vote.