Boston College Athletics
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Miller and Kenny Teaming Up For Boston Marathon
April 10, 2018 | Field Hockey, Women's Soccer, #ForBoston Files
Two seniors are running for a cause, together, on Monday.
In Massachusetts, Patriots' Day is woven deep into the region by its annual traditions. It's the reenactment of the start of the American Revolution with predawn battles at Lexington and Concord. It's the recollection of the Midnight Rides and the subsequent warning that the "redcoats are coming."
The two largest celebrations usually have nothing to do with that history, however. It's Boston's biggest sports party, with an 11 a.m. Red Sox game serving as a precursor to the annual running of the Boston Marathon. It transforms the city into an all-day block party, one where ordinary people pound 26.2 miles of pavement between Hopkinton and Boston in support of noble causes.
In 2018, Boston College will see two of its own do just that when seniors Alesandra Miller and Madison Kenny run side-by-side in service to others. The best friends, who wrapped up their final seasons as members of the field hockey and women's soccer teams, respectively, are tackling the course in support of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Stepping Strong Marathon Team.
"I play soccer and Alesandra plays field hockey, so we're both fall athletes," Kenny said. "When we both hit our senior spring season, we're pretty much done with athletics. But we're both pretty competitive people and with our schedules, we both decided that we wanted to run the Boston Marathon. It was something we'd joked about since our freshman year, but we decided to make it happen this year."
Both Miller and Kenny will hit the roads in support of BWH's program, which supports the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation. Reny was injured, along with her parents Steven and Audrey Epstein Reny, in the bombings at the finish line during the 2013 event. The family created the Stepping Strong Fund in 2014 and it eventually grew into the program that developed as part of Brigham's "Transformative Medicine" building in 2017.
"We really liked how their research was all going to the trauma center," Kenny said. "(Brigham and Women's) really helped Gillian Reny when she was impacted by the bombing in 2013 and that mission just resonated with us."
But running a marathon isn't as easy as just putting on sneakers. They had run a half-marathon together but they needed to increase endurance and change from a field hockey or soccer player into a runner in four months' time.
"Our schedules are different, so we've done workouts and short runs separately," Miller said. "We started seriously training in December and started by increasing by a mile or two each week. When we needed to run 14 miles, we started doing it together because we had run a half-marathon last spring."
In addition, both needed to essentially rewire their brains into new thinking. After 64 games apiece over the past four years, they had learned endurance within the confines of a game. But that endurance is completely different compared to the individualized nature of a 26-mile run with no stoppages.
"Playing with a team is completely different because you have other players on the field to do it with you," Miller said. "Running is more solo. Maddy and I are training at the same time, so we plan to run the whole thing together. That will make it more team oriented. I can see her and she can see me to help me run."
"It's a long period of time that you're doing something," Kenny said of running. "With our sports, there's stop and go, sprinting, high intensity, high energy, changing direction - and now we're running at a constant pace for a long time. It's very different, but it can be really calming at different points, especially when you get your runner's high. With soccer and field hockey, it's so different because we're so focused (for short periods)."
That said, they've both now learned how to do it. This past week, in the run-up to Monday, they completed their first 20-mile run. It served as their learning curve after introducing them to Heartbreak Hill. But it also gave them a realization as to what will happen when they pass through the course for real.
"We expected it to be like a half-marathon but then we realized as we ran the hills and got into Heartbreak Hill how important it is to eat," Miller said. "We didn't do that the first time around so it was a rude awakening to get a fanny pack and get something to eat along the way.
"It's five to six days of working out," she continued. "Even if I've skipped a few days, if you have to run 15 or 16 miles, it can take a couple of hours. That can be mentally draining; I've run 10 miles in a game before, but it doesn't feel like that. This is more mentally exhausting."
That's where the personal inspirations kick in. Kenny is running in memory of her grandfather, who passed away last May, while both are running as best friends. They also know that the Marathon route, right after that Heartbreak Hill spot, will turn to a crowd clad in maroon and gold at Mile 21.
"I'm super excited because we go to BC," Miller said. "We'll run by all of our friends at Mile 21 right after Heartbreak Hill. Even though I knew about (the race), I never really went to the Marathon until I went to BC - when the route goes right in front of us. I'm really excited to experience people we know and seeing those people from the other side. It was always insane to me to see these people (in the race), and I think it's going to be really cool to actually be running it with people cheering my name."
They also know that the party only begins at BC. From Chestnut Hill, they plan to turn down Comm. Ave and head right through the city onto Boylston. That's where they plan to cross the finish line, holding hands, side-by-side.
For more information on Miller and Kenny's journey, click here or here.
The two largest celebrations usually have nothing to do with that history, however. It's Boston's biggest sports party, with an 11 a.m. Red Sox game serving as a precursor to the annual running of the Boston Marathon. It transforms the city into an all-day block party, one where ordinary people pound 26.2 miles of pavement between Hopkinton and Boston in support of noble causes.
In 2018, Boston College will see two of its own do just that when seniors Alesandra Miller and Madison Kenny run side-by-side in service to others. The best friends, who wrapped up their final seasons as members of the field hockey and women's soccer teams, respectively, are tackling the course in support of Brigham and Women's Hospital's Stepping Strong Marathon Team.
"I play soccer and Alesandra plays field hockey, so we're both fall athletes," Kenny said. "When we both hit our senior spring season, we're pretty much done with athletics. But we're both pretty competitive people and with our schedules, we both decided that we wanted to run the Boston Marathon. It was something we'd joked about since our freshman year, but we decided to make it happen this year."
Both Miller and Kenny will hit the roads in support of BWH's program, which supports the Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation. Reny was injured, along with her parents Steven and Audrey Epstein Reny, in the bombings at the finish line during the 2013 event. The family created the Stepping Strong Fund in 2014 and it eventually grew into the program that developed as part of Brigham's "Transformative Medicine" building in 2017.
"We really liked how their research was all going to the trauma center," Kenny said. "(Brigham and Women's) really helped Gillian Reny when she was impacted by the bombing in 2013 and that mission just resonated with us."
But running a marathon isn't as easy as just putting on sneakers. They had run a half-marathon together but they needed to increase endurance and change from a field hockey or soccer player into a runner in four months' time.
"Our schedules are different, so we've done workouts and short runs separately," Miller said. "We started seriously training in December and started by increasing by a mile or two each week. When we needed to run 14 miles, we started doing it together because we had run a half-marathon last spring."
In addition, both needed to essentially rewire their brains into new thinking. After 64 games apiece over the past four years, they had learned endurance within the confines of a game. But that endurance is completely different compared to the individualized nature of a 26-mile run with no stoppages.
"Playing with a team is completely different because you have other players on the field to do it with you," Miller said. "Running is more solo. Maddy and I are training at the same time, so we plan to run the whole thing together. That will make it more team oriented. I can see her and she can see me to help me run."
"It's a long period of time that you're doing something," Kenny said of running. "With our sports, there's stop and go, sprinting, high intensity, high energy, changing direction - and now we're running at a constant pace for a long time. It's very different, but it can be really calming at different points, especially when you get your runner's high. With soccer and field hockey, it's so different because we're so focused (for short periods)."
That said, they've both now learned how to do it. This past week, in the run-up to Monday, they completed their first 20-mile run. It served as their learning curve after introducing them to Heartbreak Hill. But it also gave them a realization as to what will happen when they pass through the course for real.
"We expected it to be like a half-marathon but then we realized as we ran the hills and got into Heartbreak Hill how important it is to eat," Miller said. "We didn't do that the first time around so it was a rude awakening to get a fanny pack and get something to eat along the way.
"It's five to six days of working out," she continued. "Even if I've skipped a few days, if you have to run 15 or 16 miles, it can take a couple of hours. That can be mentally draining; I've run 10 miles in a game before, but it doesn't feel like that. This is more mentally exhausting."
That's where the personal inspirations kick in. Kenny is running in memory of her grandfather, who passed away last May, while both are running as best friends. They also know that the Marathon route, right after that Heartbreak Hill spot, will turn to a crowd clad in maroon and gold at Mile 21.
"I'm super excited because we go to BC," Miller said. "We'll run by all of our friends at Mile 21 right after Heartbreak Hill. Even though I knew about (the race), I never really went to the Marathon until I went to BC - when the route goes right in front of us. I'm really excited to experience people we know and seeing those people from the other side. It was always insane to me to see these people (in the race), and I think it's going to be really cool to actually be running it with people cheering my name."
They also know that the party only begins at BC. From Chestnut Hill, they plan to turn down Comm. Ave and head right through the city onto Boylston. That's where they plan to cross the finish line, holding hands, side-by-side.
For more information on Miller and Kenny's journey, click here or here.
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