Seth Taylor is joining us on the #road2boston, sponsored by adidas. Seth is an inspiring and enthusiastic runner who volunteers every Saturday with Achilles Boston. Guy also LOVES to eat! He lives in Beacon Hill with his wife and two Golden Retrievers.
One New England runner’s #road2boston
By Seth Taylor
77 days until the 2018 Boston Marathon. Wow.
Have I dreamed about toeing the line in Hopkinton? Yes. What runner hasn’t?
Have I ran a marathon before? No.
Have I trained for a marathon? Yes. I’ll explain more below.
Am I super excited to train and run the 2018 Boston Marathon as a Marathon Sports and adidas® Running #road2boston Ambassador? Definitely!
Hello! My name is Seth, a Bostonian since 2015 and lifelong lover of the outdoors, athletics, and eating. I am 32 and live in Beacon Hill with my wife, Meredith, and two Golden Retrievers (Kaylee and Chatham). Distance running has not always been my forte, in fact, 400 meters was more than enough distance for me in high school. My, how times have changed – running and endurance training now provide me with amazing physical and mental benefits.
The Boston running community is relentlessly motivating. It is hard to “take a day off” when the Esplanade and city are bustling with our active community. I “ran” for a few years before moving to Boston, but my true distance running started in Boston.
Marathon training is a whole different animal, and my wife is to credit for this wild ride. Meredith took on the challenge to run the 2017 NYC Marathon for Boston Children’s Hospital, and I naturally supported her goal in any way possible. To begin with, we needed a lot of water for our long runs. Thus my natural role was that of “water concierge”. I carried up to 80 ounces (~5 lbs.) of water in my backpack and plenty of nutrition to serve as a mobile aide station.
As Meredith crossed the finish line in Central Park (a tad bit after Shalane Flanagan), I realized a couple of things. A) I needed to continue my endurance-training journey, and B) Meredith had the marathon “bug”, and Boston was next on her list.
I signed up for The North Face Massachusetts Endurance Challenge – 50 mile, and Meredith joined the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge for the 2018 Boston Marathon. Over the last month and a half, I have resumed my role as water concierge for Meredith’s marathon training while spending significant time in the gym during the blistering cold.
The rest is history, when I saw Marathon Sports and adidas teaming up to offer two New Englanders the chance to take part in the Boston Marathon, I had to fill out the application. Of all the worthy applicants, I cannot believe I was selected. I hope that you enjoy following my journey (the good and challenging) to Hopkinton on Patriot’s Day!
