This article originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of Runner’s World. I RUN PAST Buckingham Palace and, after 26 miles, can finally see it: my sixth World Marathon Major finish line, the moment many runners dream about. After running through the arch, I am shepherded through the chute with hundreds of other marathoners.
A volunteer hastily puts a London Marathon medal around my neck, and another adds the Six Star Medal. I hobble behind other finishers in a queue waiting to get their photo taken in front of an Abbott World Marathon Majors poster. A fleeting thought comes to mind when it’s my turn to pose for the photographer: Is this it?
The next day, I sit in Heathrow Airport, scribbling on a blank page in my training journal: I just did something amazing—two marathons in one week. But I feel a little hollow. It’s just all so…pedantic?
I’m going home with this gigantic medal and another even more gigantic medal—and for what? I was hesitant about running the London Marathon. Even though I wanted to race it someday, I was daunted by the idea of it being six days after Boston, which is held on Patriots’ Day on the third Monday in April.
I’ve qualified and raced every Boston Marathon since 2013 without fail. Skipping a year just to focus on running London was nonnegotiable. My partner Paul and I had already gone through an IVF cycle and were planning on going through another round.
I was starting to become more mindful of how races interrupted my menstrual cycle and how taxing the effort was on my body months after. Pregnancy and motherhood would also eventually set some limitations on racing and travel. Runner’s World Content Hype Director Aly Ellis, who was also running Boston and London, spoke frankly: “We’re at that age where we want to start families; you have to take these opportunities now.” Though the Abbott World Marathon Majors series was on my radar, I honestly didn’t really care about earning that colossal medal at first.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
