BOSTON — 2024 Endicott College graduate and 2020 Lynnfield High graduate Bryan Mallett ran his first Boston Marathon Monday. He finished the race in 4:03.53.
Mallett raised more than $11,100 to support the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Hepatic Arterial Infusions program in memory of Sharla Sieve, a 1991 graduate of Lynnfield High and former high school and college tennis standout, who died in 2022 from stage IV metastatic colorectal cancer. The two families are very close.
Mallett only started running two years ago.
“I tried a half-marathon about two years ago and it went really well,” he said. “A friend said, ‘You did a half, might as well do a full,’ so that’s how I started thinking about running a full marathon.”
He began training in mid-November and his last long run was 10-plus miles about two weeks ago.
“Once you get past mile 20, it’s all about whatever you have left,” Mallett said. “Boston is different because of the hills. You can’t really train for that. On race day, it doesn’t really matter how you’ve trained when you get to that point. It’s the hardest marathon in the world for a reason, so you have to be ready for it.”
Mallett said the support he got from not only a large number of family and friends, but complete strangers, made a huge difference.
“One of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and I’m very grateful to have been granted the chance to represent the hospital that did so much for Sharla,” Mallett said. “And I’m very lucky to have had the opportunity to run the hardest marathon of the majors at my age – very fortunate.”
When asked if he would consider attempting the Abbott World Marathon Majors series (Boston, New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Berlin, London), he said he might.
“I’m a runner for life now, so I would definitely consider running the Abbott,” he said. “But right now, all I can think about is just trying to walk normally tomorrow.”
In her first marathon, LHS athletic trainer Clare Farrell ran in honor of her mother and sister-in-law, who have cancer, with proceeds going to the Claudia Adams Barr Program at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
She said she is no stranger to what Patriots’ Day means to Bostonians.
“I live in the city, so I’ve been a spectator at many marathons,” the Connecticut native said. “I usually go to the Red Sox game in the morning and then watch the race near Fenway with a lot of friends.”
Farrell began training in September. By November, she began training under Dana Farber’s marathon trainer, Jack Fultz, who won the 1976 marathon known as the Run for the Hoses due to temperatures hovering near or at 100 degrees during the race.
“I combined his training plan with my own personal plan, so I think the combination will work well,” Farrell said.
She completed her longest training run (21 miles) a couple of weeks ago, despite dealing with a foot tendon injury.
“I’m lucky that I have been doing a ton of PT at the high school,” she said.
Having her parents, Dorothy and Matt, near the race made running all the more special.
“Having them there, especially with my mom in remission, was why it’s really exciting,” Farrell said. “All my best friends were there. Even Bryan’s mom (Julie Mallett) came up to me the other day and said she will be tracking my bib number.”
Farrell’s goal was to finish under 4:30, but said, “With my foot, I just want to run it pain free.” She ended with a time of 5:08:50.
“Hardest experience of my life,” she said. “At mile 4, I felt like how I normally feel at 19. The heat was brutal, but more importantly, we were able to raise $18,925 for cancer research.”
2015 LHS graduate Hannah Travers finished the race in 4:34.26. She raised $5,902 for Beth Israel Lahey Health.
Since last June, Travers has been an orthopedic research fellow at New England Baptist Hospital.
On her LinkedIn page, Travers states she had witnessed the resiliency that recovered patients have displayed as they work to overcome “pain and injury to regain their mobility and independence… The Boston Marathon represents both a personal challenge and a chance to raise awareness for NEBH’s transformative work.”
