Sports
Hopkinton Mother of Two Teenagers Gets Ready to Run her Third Marathon 10 Years After Her Second
Karen O'Neil first ran the Boston Marathon as a bandit, a runner with no number. Her second run was ten years ago when she ran for a charity. Ten years later she is running as a qualified runner.
Karen O’Neil started running as her primary form of exercise after her second son was born 14 years ago. She liked the simplicity of running. She could just put on her shoes and go.
Besides two Boston Marathons, she also ran the Marine Corps Marathon in D.C., the Cape Cod Marathon and the San Diego Rock & Roll Marathon. She qualified for Boston at the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2009.
“I feel fortunate to have gotten through on the BAA website that first day registration opened to claim my number," she said. "I'm not sure I'll have another chance to run as a qualifier given the new processes being put in place.
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"That is, unless I wait until I'm 70,” says O’Neil.
Although she is busy with two teenage sons, running her own PR and marketing business and being a Board Member of the Hopkinton Boosters, O’Neil finds time to train with friends from the Hopkinton Running Club, which she has been involved with since its founding.
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“It's such a diverse group of people that I may have never gotten to know otherwise," O'Neil said. "I have been injured this winter so my training was basically 'survival mode' on the roads, combined with cross training."
"Marathon Day should be interesting,” says O’Neil.