Running the Boston Marathon has always been on Mae Mae Utsch’s bucket list, she said. Her senior year—when there were two marathons and the opportunity to be both a fan and a runner—was the perfect time for her to check it off.
“I have always wanted to run the marathon,” Utsch, CSON ‘22, said, “It’s always been like a bucket list item for me … and we had ended up having two this year, so I was thinking that it was a perfect opportunity to have one Marathon Monday date with my friends in the Mods and then also be able to cross the finish line and achieve that kinda bucket list item.”
Utsch ran for the Brigham Stepping Strong Marathon team. She said that her goal of $10,000 seemed daunting at first, but she later found it to be manageable.
“I still am so shocked [at] how generous people are, like friends, family, and just Boston College people in general,” she said “But yeah, just like family and friends, and I feel like it showed me how special the BC alumni connection and just the BC connection in general is, so it was really cool just to feel so supported.”
Utsch said running the marathon was such an insane experience that she did not even listen to the playlist she made for herself. She passed people cheering from the start to the finish line, but running past BC was indescribable.
“[Mile 21] was crazy,” she said. “I saw all my friends and they were just like so excited and rowdy like to see me … it really energized me, and I think that’s why I like Heartbreak Hill,” Utsch said. “BC comes at the perfect time because Heartbreak Hill is like you’re going up, and I just kept being like, ‘Okay, but when you get to the top like, you get to see all of your friends.’”
