One of the biggest, most prestigious races in the world took place earlier this month, as racers from both Kelowna and Vernon travelled to the east coast to take part.
On April 17, thousands of people got together to partake in the 127th Boston Marathon, arguably the biggest day of the year in Massachusetts. People from all over the world train and qualify to take part in the race.
This year, the 42-kilometre run hosted nearly 30,000 racers.
For Phoebe Cseresnyes and Caleb Maupin, two people who are still fairly new to Kelowna, they have always loved running but never envisioned themselves taking part in a marathon.
91裸聊视频淚nitially I don91裸聊视频檛 think I had my sight set on a marathon,91裸聊视频� said Cseresnyes. 91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e always enjoyed distance running, trail running especially, but my buddy Caleb and I just decided to have a go at it.91裸聊视频�
Both Cseresnyes and Maupin run with the November Project, a social group in Kelowna who get together to run a couple times a week. Cseresnyes moved to Kelowna in Summer 2020 when she got a job as a teacher in the Central Okanagan School District. She would run by herself until she saw the November Project running together and decided to join them.
Maupin moved to Canada four years ago and committed to marathon running around a year ago. He decided to make the Boston Marathon a goal after watching highlights of the 2021 race.
Back in August 2021, Cseresnyes, Maupin, and another member of the group, Diane Broduer, all decided to make the Boston Marathon a goal.
Cseresnyes said Broduer was one of her inspirations to run the marathon as she has run 100 mile races in the past.
91裸聊视频淲e thought it would be a great opportunity to travel.91裸聊视频� said Cseresnyes. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 truly remember how it happened. I think we fell into setting some actual goals with running and we were just diving into the trail running scene and longer distances and seeing how far we could push it.
91裸聊视频淭he first thing to check off was, 91裸聊视频榃hy don91裸聊视频檛 we see if we can actually run a marathon on pavement first?91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频�
For Chelsey Giffin and her partner, Tristan Hoekstra from Vernon, partaking in the race was a long time coming.
Giffin qualified for the 2020 marathon but the race was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said her work colleagues were cheering her on with enthusiasm.
While Cseresnyes and Maupin trained by running with the November Project, Giffin told Black Press Media she trained six days a week for four months using some different types of preparation. She would execute her training with one long run per week between 25 and 35 kilometres, interspersed with 91裸聊视频渟peed running91裸聊视频� to get her time down.
With it being their first time racing in the marathon, they all couldn91裸聊视频檛 believe what the experience was like.
91裸聊视频淚t was truly amazing, there91裸聊视频檚 nothing else quite like it,91裸聊视频� said Cseresnyes.
91裸聊视频淲hen we showed up, I don91裸聊视频檛 think we knew what we were in for.
91裸聊视频淭he atmosphere was loud and indescribable really. People seemed to be behind one another and there to support one another.
91裸聊视频淚 think it went by a little quick but that91裸聊视频檚 what running is, you91裸聊视频檙e always moving forward.91裸聊视频�
On top of a good race, Maupin91裸聊视频檚 goal was to take the whole experience in at the same time.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 pretty drained mentally and emotionally because it was such a high being there,91裸聊视频� said Maupin.
91裸聊视频淓verything people that have done before say is absolutely true.
91裸聊视频淭he crowd, the City of Boston, all the suburbs leading up to the finish line, they really came out at every single kilometre that we pass, it felt like they91裸聊视频檙e celebrating you personally.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淭he energy and the city truly felt like it was hosting us. I91裸聊视频檓 very, very grateful for the support there, it was like a dream. We91裸聊视频檝e done some bigger distance races and you start to have their dips mentally and physically and you kind of go within yourself to get out of those dips but with this, as soon as we started to feel a little bit low, there was that next crowd of people and it immediately got you out of those low spots. I would say for 42 kilometres, there was never more than 800 metres, if that, where there wasn91裸聊视频檛 a crowd of people. My goal on top of running was to soak in every single second, high up everyone I could. All in all, felt nothing but love and support and extreme gratitude for the people that came out and spent their holiday and their day off in the rain and cheer us on, that was pretty cool and these people that were treated that way were doing the exact same thing.91裸聊视频�
Both Cseresnyes and Maupin crossed the finish line at the same time, at just over three hours and 14 minutes, while Giffin beat her personal record by nine minutes, clocking in at three hours and eight minutes.
91裸聊视频淚 was really happy with that time,91裸聊视频� Giffin said. 91裸聊视频淚t was really amazing and the whole city of Boston really rallies around the race and comes out to support the runners, and just the energy was fantastic.91裸聊视频�
Cseresnyes added seeing other runners wearing quarter century bibs, meaning they were taking part in their 25th Boston Marathon, was also special and motivating.
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On top of the amazing time and opportunity they had, both Phoebe and Maupin wanted to point out to Black Press Media the racism they also saw, which made news nationally on race day.
91裸聊视频淭he group of individuals who came out to support an already unrepresented minority in the race was treated very, very unfairly,91裸聊视频� said Maupin.
91裸聊视频淭he city showed up, I91裸聊视频檓 not hating on the city at all because they were fantastic, but it was definitely a double standard in terms of what people of colour were not allowed to do compared to other people.91裸聊视频�
Maupin went on to explain what happened at the halfway mark of the race with a group called the Pioneer Run Club.
91裸聊视频淎t mile 21, there was a strictly Black group (that) came out to support Black runners and I can tell you, there was no impediment stopping us from racing. They were behind the barriers, they was nothing happening that would have made you think, regardless of what race they were, 91裸聊视频楬ey this shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be happening,91裸聊视频�91裸聊视频� said Maupin.
91裸聊视频淚 can tell you there were multiple opportunities where white people were handing out beer on the course91裸聊视频� folks were on the race path where you had to adjust your stride and trajectory and police were nowhere near that.
91裸聊视频淪o that was pretty disheartening to see folks that were respecting the rules to be treated the way they were.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频楾here was a lot of outrage and uproar about how the Boston Police showed up and policed them unjustly,91裸聊视频� added Phoebe.
91裸聊视频淥f all the thousands and thousands and thousands of people who came out to cheer and support, it was people of colour who were given a really unfair time out there.
91裸聊视频淔or the running community to band together and to acknowledge the blatant racism that still exists, especially in the athletic world, I think speaks to how athletics needs to get behind the political injustices that still exist, that there91裸聊视频檚 still work to be done for people to grow and enjoy the sport.91裸聊视频�
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On top of the emotion of what happened at mile 21, Giffin also explained how emotional this race was since it was the 10th anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings.
91裸聊视频淚t was an emotional day in Boston and the whole city was out, all the way from the start to the finish.91裸聊视频� said Giffin. 91裸聊视频淚t really propels you along, it makes it so motivating to get to the finish line.91裸聊视频�
When asked if they91裸聊视频檒l ever take part in the event again, Maupin said 91裸聊视频淎bsolutely, no question91裸聊视频� while Phoebe said she would love to do it again but is unsure about next year 91裸聊视频� it91裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频減encilled in91裸聊视频� she said.
The other two runners who took part in the Boston Marathon were Lydia Copland and Samuel Isaak.
