fbpx

Zdeno Chara Runs Personal Best At 2024 London Marathon Six Days After Running Boston

At nearly seven feet tall, we'd say a 3:11 is pretty impressive.

For most people, finishing just one or two marathons a year is considered a successful season, especially if you can manage a personal best in there.

The key word there? Most.

Some people can get in two marathons in less than a week. Former NHL player Zdeno Chara is one of those people.

Since retiring from a career as a professional hockey player in September 2022, Zdeno Chara, the former Bruins captain and tallest player in NHL history at 6 feet, 9 inches, hasnโ€™t called it quits on all sports.

Zdeno Chara Runs Personal Best At 2024 London Marathon Six Days After Running Boston 1

Despite his gargantuan stature, Chara has found a new passion in running and endurance sports and has been remarkably successful at that.

After running his first marathon at the 2023 Boston Marathon, Chara was hooked and wound up running five more marathons within the year, including three within the span of just one month.

Chara returned one year later to run the 2024 Boston Marathon, the place where this all started, and run the course in 3:30:52. Considering heโ€™s nearly seven feet tall, we think thatโ€™s pretty impressive.

To one-up himself, he got on a plane to fly across the pond and run the 2024 London Marathon just six days later (also his eighth marathon in just one yearโ€™s time).

Zdeno Chara Runs Personal Best At 2024 London Marathon Six Days After Running Boston 2

Not only did he finish two majors in one week, but he also ran a new personal best in London of 3:11:04 (thatโ€™s 4:32/km or 7:17/mile, if youโ€™re wondering).

The Boston Heral spoke to Charaโ€™s former teammate from the Boston Bruins, Brandon Carlo, who said, โ€œI think that speaks to what we saw here for many years. Heโ€™s very dedicated to his craft in every way. His dedication to things is impeccable. But thatโ€™s very impressive to see, obviously.โ€ย 

โ€œIโ€™m not sure Iโ€™ll be doing that same sort of thing, but you can tell that thatโ€™s what made him such a great athlete. He always wants to push himself and kind of grind through those suffering moments. Itโ€™s great to see that mental side of him, and thereโ€™s a lot to be learned there.โ€

Zdeno Chara Runs Personal Best At 2024 London Marathon Six Days After Running Boston 3

โ€œI think he enjoys it, to be honest,โ€ said Carlo. โ€œThatโ€™s part of his character of wanting to feel that sort of pain that heโ€™s pushing himself. All the mentally strong people do that, and heโ€™s up there with some of the best Iโ€™ve known.โ€

Chara plans to continue to dominate in road races and, with a training regimen that incorporates a lot of cross-training, has announced he will be competing in the Challenge Roth Triathlon in Germany.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Avatar photo

Jessy Carveth

Senior News Editor

Jessy has been active her whole life, competing in cross-country, track running, and soccer throughout her undergrad. She pivoted to road cycling after completing her Bachelor of Kinesiology with Nutrition from Acadia University. Jessy is currently a professional road cyclist living and training in Spain.

Want To Save This Guide For Later?

Enter your email and we'll give it over to your inbox.