Marathon Monday is grueling enough on its own. For seven runners this April, that’s exactly the point.
A group of athletes from the Trail Animals Running Club in Massachusetts will begin their Boston Marathon weekend not at the starting line in Hopkinton — but at the finish line on Boylston Street, at three in the morning, running the course backwards. After completing those first 26.2 miles, they’ll take a short break, eat, recover, and then run the official race alongside tens of thousands of other runners.
That’s 52.4 miles total. Back to back. In opposite directions.
What Is “Double Boston”?
The challenge, known informally as “Double Boston,” has existed on the fringes of the ultra-running community for years. But this is the first time it’s received formal backing. Mount to Coast, a footwear brand that makes shoes for extreme long-distance races, is sponsoring the group and has rented a house near the course where runners can recover between the two legs.
The seven runners taking on the challenge are Kathryn Zioto, Justin Hetherington, Jon Western, Maria Chevalier, Dave Desnoyers, Brendan Morgan, and Bill Dittman — all members of the Trail Animals Running Club.
The Logistics Are No Joke
Hetherington, a veteran of three Boston Marathons and multiple ultramarathons, says nothing in his running history has prepared him for a 3 a.m. start.
“I’ve never started a race this early. We’re starting at three o’clock in the morning. So that means I’m waking up at 1 a.m.,” he said. “It’s cool, because there’s that kind of to-be-determined uncertainty aspect of it. It’s exciting and scary.”
His family and friends have had a simpler reaction.
“People are like, ‘You’re out of your mind,'” Hetherington said. “My family and friends, they all just think I’m a maniac, but they know that by now.”
Running Boston Upside Down
Boston is famously a net-downhill course — runners drop roughly 450 feet in elevation from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, with the notorious Newton Hills serving as the main challenge in the second half. Flip the course around, and the calculus changes entirely.
“Boston’s a net-downhill course, which means that you’re mostly running downhill along with one hard hill section,” said Zioto, who has two young children and regularly runs to work to fit training into her schedule. “So a lot of the Boston course, you kind of cruise along. I think when you flip that on its head, that means that a lot of the course will be running uphill — the majority, actually.”
To prepare for that physical reality, Zioto has restructured her training. Rather than her usual single long run per week, she now follows each long run with a medium-distance run, specifically to practice running on tired legs.
Why Do It?
Ultra-running attracts people who find satisfaction in discomfort, and Double Boston is no different. Zioto acknowledged that the challenge won’t make sense to everyone — but that’s not really the point.
“I think people that aren’t familiar with ultra-running might think that it’s really unnecessary,” she said. “But I think it’ll be a lot of fun. Accomplishing something you’re not sure you can do is one of life’s great joys.”
The seven runners will finish their reverse leg in Hopkinton, rest at the Mount to Coast house, and then join the official Boston Marathon field later that morning — completing one of the most unusual double-header challenges in amateur running.
