A Wagga doctor and marathon veteran was the first Australian female, and first female in her age category across the line at the Boston Marathon, fielded by more than 30,000 runners in 2017.
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At 47, it was a highlight of Rachel Glasson’s decorated running career.
She breezed past elite runners and beat 2146 runners in her age category (45-49 years) in April.
“It’s the pinnacle of my achievements at Boston,” she said.
She finished the race in two hours 56 minutes and 32 seconds, running each kilometre in an average time of four minutes and 11 seconds.
On her blog, she described the performance as “pretty crappy”, her second-slowest finishing time from six.
“It was so hot, no one was hoping to run a personal best this year,” Glasson said.
“Everyone was just hoping to survive.”
Though she ran 133km per week in the 12 weeks leading up to Boston, her training regime wasn’t as intense as she would have liked. A key rival in her age category was sick, helping her cause.
Looking back over her career in running, Glasson does wish she became serious about it in her late 20s instead of her 40s.
“That would have been awesome,” she said.
“But on the flipside, I’ve done a lot in my 40s, and it’s great having Joel (Kozlowski), we’ve experienced a lot together.”
They ran the New York Marathon together, where Glasson started with elite runners, and have done Boston four times together.
Kozlowski and Glasson also work together at Blamey Street surgery.
“We’re working in health care, we’re both really health-conscious, running’s an important part of our lives not just for physical benefits but mental health benefits,” she said.
“Running keeps us sane.
“I think everyone should run. You don’t have to do what I do, but you should do something.”
They love running in Wagga, particularly around Lake Albert
“I’ve never felt unsafe in Wagga, apart from the occasional kangaroo and the snakes, you don’t run in the trails in summer because of the snakes," she said.
Next year they plan on running Tokyo Marathon instead.
“He really loves Japanese food, he’s constantly dragging me to eat Japanese food everywhere we go,” Glasson said.
They will return to Boston.
“I might wait until I go up an age group at Boston so I can win one of these again,” Glasson said.
“Everyone slows down with age, I’m just hoping I’ll slow down less. I’ll keep going until I can’t, and then I’ll probably start walking.”
