Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Training for the Boston Marathon is like a full-time job for dozens of runners on Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital’s Boston Marathon team.
Amanda Shuman led a training group for the team on a 21-mile run in Charlestown on Saturday.
“This group is tremendous,” she told WBZ NewsRadio. “They have made sacrifices to take on this training.”
With the Boston Marathon less than a month away, this group is at the height of preparation. For Du Park, a former brain injury patient on the seventh floor of the hospital, training for the marathon has been a long time coming.
“I was fixated on the idea of when can I run again,” he said. “I couldn’t even like walk the hallway."
The hospital created the marathon team 20 years ago and has raised more than $660,000 for charity. Their goal is to raise $950,000.
"Once I got out, I started to run, applied for the race for [the] rehab team, and when I got accepted that was the happiest day," Park added.
The upcoming race means more than just crossing the finish line for Park. It’s crossing off a long-awaited accomplishment.
“I just pictured crossing a finish line, any finish line,” he said. “I was just in tears thinking about that moment of my recovery.”
Liam Larivee’s dad was a patient at Spaulding Rehab Hospital, and he also has a similar long-term goal waiting for him after this marathon.
“The end goal to this is next year to push my dad through the 2026 Boston Marathon,” he said.
The 2025 Boston Marathon takes place on April 21.
WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.