Last night, Ann Everett’s family and friends expected her to eat a large, high-calorie piece of cheesecake. It would be her reward for completing the Boston Marathon yesterday afternoon, her second marathon in Boston and her fifth overall.
As Everett climbed the series of hills near the Boston College campus known as “Heartbreak Hill,” she was greeted with cheers from hundreds of spectators, including her husband, Mark, and her brother-in-law, Wayne. Both men were working at a water table at mile 20, which was run by the church the Everetts attend, Calvary Chapel of Boston in Rockland, Mass.
Ann Everett ran the marathon with two other runners from Calvary’s “Messiah Milers” running group, her husband said. Mark Everett said a motivation for his wife to run is so she can eat one of her favorite foods: cheesecake.
“Her quote would be, ‘I can eat anything I want and all I want ’cause if you run, you burn it all off,'” he said.
When his wife reached mile 20, Mark expected her to need a boost from her family and friends stationed at the tables.
“She’ll be pretty tired,” he said. “She’ll have the hill ahead of her. [But] she’ll be okay. I think she’ll do good.”
About a mile down the course, Dave Julier and Cathy Hurst of Cambridge waited to cheer on the runners as they passed.
Dressed as “general 18th century folk,” Julier and Hurst began their Patriot’s Day festivities by watching the marathon from their favorite location. They said they had plans later in the day to attend a party thrown by Hurst’s brother, who is a historian and insists everyone at the party dress in authentic attire.
Although they have only dressed up for the past two years, they have watched the marathon since 1967, Hurst said. Last year some runners stopped to get their picture taken with the “patriots,” Hearst said, but she and Julier provide other support for the runners.
“I come for the people in the back because I know what it’s like to be in the back,” said Hurst, who has run other marathons in the past.
She said they bring things with them they know the runners will need, such as tissues and Vaseline.
“By this time, if you’re being chafed by your shorts, Vaseline comes in handy,” Julier said.
Julier and Hurst position themselves at Heartbreak Hill, known as one of the most difficult and grueling sections of the marathon.
“The interesting thing about Heartbreak Hill is that for the experienced runner, going down is harder,” Hurst said.
Hurst said the hill is unique because runners tend to go too fast anticipating the race’s end, coming down too hard on their feet and not planning well to get themselves down the hill.
Hurst also said the hill’s location toward the end of the race makes it especially difficult for the runners.
To help marathoners through this difficult part of the race, Julier and Hurst said the crowd cheers and gives them a lot of support.
“People will cheer for them and yell, ‘You can do it, you can do it,'” Hurst said. “People who are smart will put their name on their shirt so people can yell, ‘Go, Bill,’ or something.”
Back at the mile 20 marker in Newton, Bob Allen stood outside of the house he has lived in since 1938 and watched the runners pass, as he has done every year of his life.
Over the years, Allen said he has seen the condition of the runners improve dramatically. He said buses used to drive along the race route to pick up people who had dropped out. Now that foot gear is sturdier and runners use training regimes to prepare for the marathon, Allen said things have changed.
“For me, the most incredible thing is the number of people that are in tremendous shape and can run the marathon and finish in good time.”