Local Runners Ready for Boston Marathon (PHOTOS)
Dozens of Montgomery County runners are competing in this year’s Boston Marathon, including Gaithersburg resident Lisa Reichmann and Rockville resident Julie Sapper.
“There is no other experience like it,” said Reichmann, who returns to the famed course for her eleventh Boston Marathon this year.
This will be Sapper’s seventh Boston Marathon.
“I love the Boston Marathon,” Sapper said. “I think it is an honor to run Boston because you have to qualify. It is a true celebration of running and features the best runners from all over the world.”
Reichmann and Sapper are also local running coaches, who co-founded Run Farther & Faster.
Over the years, they have coached hundreds of runners in Montgomery County and they say the sport is growing in Montgomery County.
“It’s one of the biggest sports locally,” said Reichmann. “This is a great area to run and there are lots of groups to train with.”
“There are so many nice running trails where people can go and meet for a run. It’s a mecca for running,” said Sapper.
The Rockville Millennium Trail and Capital Crescent Trail are two popular spots for local runners, according to Reichmann and Sapper who often train there.
Both women finished the Boston Marathon last year before the bombings occurred. “I was very fortunate,” said Sapper, who said she does not like to talk about the bombings because she feels it is not a part of her story. Her family will be cheering her on at this year’s Marathon.
After finishing the Boston Marathon in 2013, Reichmann, who has been running marathons for 14 years, originally was going to take a break. Reichmann said she did not plan to race Boston again this year but changed her mind after the bombings and became determined to run her favorite marathon again.
“The whole city transforms. It is so hard to explain. You have 20,000 friends instantaneously,” Reichmann said. “That’s why runners took it very personally.”
And Reichmann’s race goal for 2014?
“This year it is just to finish, just finish healthy.”
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