A Cousin's Survival Inspires Mansfield Resident to Run the Boston Marathon

Are you a Mansfield resident running the Boston Marathon? Mansfield Patch wants to hear why you are making the run from Hopkinton to Boston. Email dan.libon@patch.com for more information!

Name

Katie Worth

What is your profession?

I am a cost accountant for a local dairy company.

What is your road racing experience?

I have run Falmouth Road Race three times, five half marathons, as well as many 5Ks, 10Ks and 5 Milers.

Why do you want to run the Boston Marathon?

I was inspired to run the marathon in 2011. My cousin Kristin ran for the Mass. General team as the first pediatric survivor to run. I saw how she took a negative experience in her life and turn it into something positive. My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when I was nine and it left me pretty angry. I decided to use that emotion and try and do something positive with it. I got accepted into the Falmouth Road Race with the Alzheimer’s Association and started training.

The marathon was always my end game. I had quite a few speed bumps along the way. After Falmouth I had to have knee surgery. The recovery took a lot longer than I thought it would, so that took me out of the running in 2012 and 2013. Then at the end of 2013 I had a very serious back injury, which was so bad I could not even stand. With lots of rehab and determination I recovered and in the fall of 2014 I applied to run the marathon!

Why did you choose to run with the Massachusetts General Hospital team?

I chose Mass. General as it is a bit of a family legacy. My cousin Danny (Kristin’s dad) ran on the very first MGH Pediatric Oncology Team in 1998, then in 2011 Kristin ran. When the opportunity presented itself for 2015 I jumped on it! I am so excited to be able to make a difference for kids with cancer. They have a great program and all the funds go back to MGH for children’s programming, research, and care.

How did you overcome the difficulties of training through the winter?

This winter I hit yet another physical speed bump. About a month into training, I broke my foot! I had a stress fracture from training and was off my foot for over six weeks! I broke it the first week of February so I avoided most of the rough winter. However that left me only 5 weeks to train for my first marathon! Getting into Marathon shape in 5 weeks has not been easy, but I have been using the Jeff Galloway (former Olympian) walk/run method and it has helped keep the pain manageable. My goal is to finish, rest the foot for a few weeks, and take a small break. My biggest fear with running the Boston Marathon is getting lost. They keep saying it is impossible to take a left on Hereford, but I think if anyone could take a left it would be me!

Any training tips?

My best training tips are listen to your body. It has taken me four years to get ready to run one race. Nothing happens overnight. Ice is your best friend. Cross training is important too. I like to do Yoga or take a ballet barre class. There are so many muscles you use while running yu don’t even think about and this helps stretch them out! There is no such thing as a bad run. I really believe in the Jeff Galloway method, I have had some of my best runs using it.

Click here to go to Worth’s fundraising page.