FAYETTE – Nancy Feeney of Fayette qualified and ran her second Boston Marathon on April 20 and reached her goal of finishing in less than four hours. In spite of the less than perfect weather this year, plus less than ideal training conditions, she achieved her goal and finished with an official time of three hours, 55 minutes, 55 seconds.

In an interview with Nancy before the race, she shared some of her activities as she prepared to race in the 2015 marathon.

This year, she is honored to be fundraising for Parkinson’s disease as a member of Team Fox for Parkinson’s Research through The Michael J. Fox Foundation. She has been inspired by two very special friends who are currently living with Parkinson’s disease. Her goal is to raise $5000 and as of race day, she was rapidly closing in on it! This year, thanks to the generous support of an anonymous donor, 100% of Team Fox proceeds will go directly to research efforts to help speed a cure for Parkinson’s. People can donate even after the event. The link to her fund raising page is: http://www2.michaeljfox.org/site/TR/TeamFox/TeamFox?px=2105483&pg=personal&fr_id=1720

She started her running activities by walking more than usual which progressed to running. Her training and accomplishments are impressive, considering that she ran in her first race at the age of 51 and came in second place!

The first marathon she competed at was the first Bay of Fundy International Marathon in 2013 which qualified her for the 2014 Boston Marathon. “It was kind of ironic, because it was their first marathon and it was my first marathon,” she said.

The news lately has been full of reports about the trial of one of the bombers and she has been affected by the 2013 bombing.

“It really meant a lot for me to participate in the 2014 marathon. It had a lot more meaning, especially since it was the first Boston Marathon since the bombing in 2013. There were a lot of people who were not able to run after the bombing,” she said. “When I ran last year, it didn’t really bother me, but I am not going to lie; I did not plan to be on the outside edges.”

The Boston Marathon bombings and subsequent related shootings were a series of attacks and incidents which began on April 15, 2013, when two pressure cooker bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon at 2:49 p.m., killing three people and injuring an estimated 264 others. The bombs exploded about 12 seconds and 210 yards apart, near the finish line on Boylston Street.

In spite of the added attention and the media coverage, Nancy did well, finishing the race in 2014 in three hours, 46 minutes and six seconds.

She hoped to do well in Boston this year, but the crazy winter weather severely curtailed her outside training regimen making it nearly impossible to run outdoors. Luckily, she has access to the gym at Kents Hill Academy where she works and a treadmill at home, affectionately dubbed “the dreadmill.” She followed a 20 week training schedule and ran about 50 miles each week, mostly on Sundays doing eight to 22 miles that day. Part of the training is mental, she says and making a better time is her personal challenge. She admits that she is competitive, but only with herself.

“It was a great honor just to qualify and sometimes I can’t believe that I am doing this!” she said. “It just goes to show that if you want something, work hard, be committed and you can have it!”

“I feel prepared and ready to run, but I hope to run my personal best,” she added. Congratulations Nancy for a job well done for a most worthy cause!