Last Boston Marathon Runner, Cancer Survivor, Crosses At Midnight

BOSTON, MA — Each year after the Boston Marathon timing clock is turned off and race announcers and spectators have packed up and gone home, persistent runners and walkers continue to the Boylston Street finish line, determined to finish what they started.

That was the case for Mary Shertenlieb. Shortly after Shertenlieb rounded the bend from Haverford Street by the fire station and turned onto Boylston - just after midnight - she was met with a cheering crowd, complete with cowbells and TV cameras, just for her.

Shertenlieb was the last runner to cross the 2018 Boston Marathon finish line. And for her, this was an extra special victory.

Shertenlieb was diagnosed three times with an aggressive type of cancer. Last year doctors finally cleared her for a longer wait between visits, a major milestone for someone recovering from cancer and, in her case, a stem cell transplant. That's when she decided to run Boston.

Stories of hope had inspired her during treatment, and she wanted to do something similar to others looking for inspiring stories. If she could beat it, others could, too. So she set out to raise money for Dana Farber, the center she credits with saving her life.

Her husband, a prominent sports radio host in Boston, said she wasn't even a runner, and though he was apprehensive at first, the doctor said if she trained responsibly she could do it.

"It's not an easy road back to get back to where you were," said Rich Shertenlieb Tuesday morning on the Sports Hub's "Toucher & Rich" show.

The one thing that could complicate the run for her, however, was the chilly rain. Because of her immune system, the doctor gave strict orders to avoid getting to the point of uncontrollable shivers.

Shertenlieb started her race at 11 a.m. Monday, at 12:30 p.m. her friends and family helped her switch into a new pair of socks in Natick and on she went.

Around 4 p.m. she made it 15.5 miles to Wellesley before the driving rain and cold forced her to take shelter in a Dunkin' Donuts.

"At that point, her body began to shiver uncontrollably, her lips turned purple, and because of her compromised immune system, her doctors instructed her to stop running in the rain should this happen," her husband posted to Twitter.

But she didn't want to stop. She went home, cleaned up, warmed up and waited for the rain to stop.

At 8:30 p.m., she set out again. This time with her husband running alongside following the orange peels and smashed cups along the way. At times people would drive over and cheer her on.

"The rain has now stopped, and with dry clothes, we are now at the Dunkin Donuts in Wellesley where she stopped running at 4PM. We will now finish Mary’s journey to the finish line together. Let’s go," Rich posted.

Right around 11 p.m. the duo made their way through Cleveland Circle and started into Brookline. Then it got tough.

At Kenmore Square, with 1 more mile left, she told her husband she wanted to run it.

At 12:10 a.m. they turned that final corner to the home stretch. The finish line still was still illuminated by lights and no one was on the road.

Not only a cancer survivor, Mary Shertenlieb is a member of the family that lived above the Forum Restaurant, which was rocked by the explosions of the 2013 Marathon.

This run to the finish symbolized a deeper healing for her.

As she got closer, a roar went up into the night. Volunteers ready to break down the last of finish line set-up cheered her on.

No one had run across the line for hours, but because of her husband's social media posts, a police officer remained to direct traffic out of the way. Someone made a pronouncement declaring Mary the last runner. A friend who had also run stepped forward to give Shertenlieb a finisher's medal.

And there wasn't a dry eye around, especially if they belonged to the Shertenliebs.

Shertenlieb raised $35,568 as of Tuesday morning for Dana Barber, according to her fundraising page.

"If you told me five years ago that I would be running a marathon, I would have told you were drinking crazy juice and I would have laughed at you. Miracles can happen! Let me tell you - running miles in this cold Boston winter is nothing compared to being away from my boys in the hospital," she wrote on her fundraising page.

Read the Sports Hub chronicle of her run through her husband's social media posts.

• 81 Runners To The Hospital, Thousands To the Medical Tents
• 5 Top American Women To Watch: Boston Marathon 2018

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Photos by Jenna Fisher/Patch