‘The Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done’: Harvard Students Race in 130th Boston Marathon

After stocking up in the Adams House dining hall with six gluten-free waffles, Eva D. Rankin ’26 said the forty-minute bus ride to get to the starting line of the Boston Marathon felt “insane.”

“You’re like, ‘The only way back is on my own two feet running,’” Rankin said.

Rankin was one of at least a dozen Harvard undergraduates to complete the world’s oldest annual marathon Monday morning, joining more than thirty thousand runners who traversed 26.2 miles through eight towns before crossing the finish line in Copley Square.

While many runners prepare for months, Rankin’s training had been cut short after a stress fracture in her foot left her unable to go on runs longer than six miles in the lead-up to the marathon.

“Mile twenty-two to mile twenty-five, I was like, ‘This is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my whole life,’” Rankin said. “Every single step after six miles was a personal best.”

Rankin called the marathon “a test of grit.”

“I set out to prove to myself that I can follow through on a promise,” she said. “I felt strong, and I kept running faster as I got closer to the end.”

To participate in the marathon, runners must either achieve a qualifying time in a prior race or partner with a charity through the Boston Marathon’s official program. Many Harvard runners opted for the second option, raising totals that ranged from $3,000 to $13,000.

James L. “Jack” Burton ’26 ran for the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which had been established by the family of a victim who survived the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

“I was at the finish line during the bombings in 2013, so I had a special attachment to this specific race,” Burton said. “I wanted my first marathon to be the Boston Marathon, and to honor those people that had lost their lives and limbs that day.”

Burton said that the marathon brought “a roller coaster of emotions.”

“When I was about to cross the finish line, there was a guy on his knees praying in front of the monument, which was very impactful,” he said.

Rebecca P. Janfaza ’26 said she was “excited” to run the race with her older brother, Noah S. Janfaza ’25, for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston.

“To see him after I crossed the finish line was very, very special,” she said. “I grew up outside of Boston, so to run a race that I watched every year growing up for as long as I can remember is such a unique experience.”

Olivia B. Lunseth ’28 said that seeing the other runners represent their charities was “moving.”

“The first sixteen miles were the most fun sixteen miles I’ve ever run in my life,” Lunseth said. “I didn’t use my AirPods for a single second of it.”

But by the end, Lunseth said she was exhausted.

“I honestly thought I was gonna have to crawl,” she said.

For Annabel S. Lowe ’26, the marathon was “the best thing I’ve done all senior year.”

“There was nothing quite like running it for the first time,” Lowe said. “The energy the whole way along was incredible.”

“Walking upstairs the next few days is going to be a challenge, but I’m so, so happy I did it,” she added.

Genevieve F. Hill ’27 said the cheering spectators inspired her to keep going.

“I got to mile thirteen and I was like, ‘Wow, I have to do this again?’” Hill said. “It was a lot, but the crowd really carried me through.”

Hill and several other runners skipped their Monday classes to race. Unlike neighboring institutions like Tufts, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern, Harvard College does not cancel class for Patriots’ Day.

“I really wish Marathon Monday was off,” Hill said. “I did have to skip my classes today, which, small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.”

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in a statement that the school “congratulates all our students who ran this year’s Boston Marathon and applauds their dedication, resilience, and outstanding achievement.”

While Burton said he would have preferred the day off, he did not consider it a top priority.

“The Harvard administration has bigger fish to fry,” he said.

—Staff writer Wyeth Renwick can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @wzrenwick.