Dot Club runners aim for marathon finish by Monday

Dorchester Running Club members Mary Morgan and Kris Baker will run the marathon as part of Team MR8. Photo courtesy DRC

Seven members of the Dorchester Running Club (DRC) will hit the pavement this weekend to participate in the Boston Marathon, which for the first time in 124 years is being held virtually instead of in-person. An eighth runner, Dianna Maneksha of Dorchester, will compete in a virtual version of the Connemara Marathon, which was also cancelled.

The Boston Marathon contingent will run for charities and causes of their choice: Jean Adams, Kris Baker, and Mary Morgan are running for Team MR8; Beth Bailey for the Shawn Thornton Foundation; Lindsay Kenny for the Remember Betty Foundation; Megan Mahoney for Jake Kennedy; and Kathy Mullen for the Vanessa T Marcotte Foundation. Together, the runners have fundraised thousands of dollars for their causes.

Runners can complete the 26.2 route on their own anytime between Sept. 5 and next Monday (Sept. 14).

DRC president Stefanie O’Shea has set out a Dorchester-centric route for her fellow runners that will lead them from Adams Village to the Back Bay and back.

“The Dorchester Running Club has made our own route that starts and ends at the Eire Pub, winding them around the city, by the traditional finish line, and along our favorite route by UMass,” said O’Shea. “We have members doing water stops along the way and hope that people will cheer them on along the route.”

O’Shea added that she was impressed by the dedication of the DRC marathoners, whose race preparations were interrupted by the onset of the pandemic earlier this year.

They were essentially forced to repeat their entire months-long mental and physical training process, she explained.

“They started training for Boston in November and had just completed their long runs of 18-20 miles in training when everything shut down in March. After the Marathon was cancelled and a new September date announced, they started all over again and kept at it even as we learned there would be no in-person marathon.”

For more details about the makeshift marathon route and opportunities to cheer on runners, contact dorchesterrunningclub@gmail.com.


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