Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
NATICK, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Look! Out on the road! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a marathon training session!
More than 100 people dressed in superhero costumes gathered at the Natick VFW on Saturday for the CharityTeams Superhero 17 Training Run.
The 17-mile trek from Natick to the Boston Marathon finish line had costumed runners representing nearly 50 different charities in preparation for the actual marathon run on April 15.
Superhero stalwarts like Batman, Wonder Woman, and The Flash were well represented during Saturday's run. Other runners chose to dress up as less conventional superheroes.
"I’m Ted Lasso, a superhero for us all," one mustachioed runner told WBZ NewsRadio while dressed as Jason Sudeikis' character from the Apple TV+ series. "Listen, you gotta believe, that’s what marathon training is all about. We’re running with Team Hoyt, and their motto is 'Yes You Can,' which I feel matches nicely with the belief."
1 of 3 Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
2 of 3 Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
3 of 3 Photo: Suzanne Sausville/WBZ NewsRadio
Jessie showed up as Captain No Pants.
"In 2017, I ran this superhero run as Wonder Woman with no pants on," said Jessie. "I ran the (CharityTeams) HOP21, which is the 21-mile run from Hopkinton, as a Playboy Bunny with no pants on. And then my friends just started calling me No Pants."
And then there was Troy.
"I’m already a superhero, so I’m in my human costume," Troy said.
The run was organized by CharityTeams founder Susan Hurley, who wanted to add some pizzazz to the marathon training process.
"Training is very grueling for the Boston Marathon," Hurley told WBZ. "We’re training all winter long. We get bored with our training at times and we need to make it a little bit more fun."
Hurley, dressed with two friends as the RunKings (a play on Dunkin's Super Bowl commercial starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady as pop group the DunKings), participated in the training run despite battling cancer.
"[I] just came out of chemo, but, you know, I want to set an example for other people, for kids, just to continue and continually keep going, as Tom Brady would say, and never let things get you down," Hurley said. "You just got to push through things."
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@WBZSausville) reports.
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