Side By Side For 26 Miles: Habelows Push 3 Dozen Belmontians Over Marathon Finish Line

Photo: Melissa (left) and Eileen (right) Habelow at the finish of the Boston Marathon.

Monday’s BAA Marathon was no walk in the park for the Habelows from Belmont. The pair – mom Eileen and eldest daughter Melissa – ended up battling daylong drenching downpours, a steady headwind and temperatures in the 40s for nearly seven hours before crossing the finish line in Boston’s Copley Square just before 6 p.m.

And during the entire six hours and 22 minutes in the rain and cold, mother and daughter did it together, side by side, hitting every checkpoint at the same time.

“It was brutal and amazing in the same day,” said Eileen. “We have trained for almost 20-weeks (physical exertion is nothing new as both Habelows were stellar field hockey players in college) so to have that kind of weather on Marathon Monday was a bit disappointing, but we still got to run the Boston Marathon!”

Three dozen Belmont residents completed the 122nd edition of the marathon run during epic weather conditions. The town’s resident marathoner, Becca Pizzi, broke the finish line in 3 hours and 35 minutes while Belmont High’s Girls’ Basketball Head Coach Melissa Hart strode in four hours and 39 minutes.

The day’s payoff for the Habelows was just that, raising almost $18,000 for Boston’s Beth Israel Cancer Center where Eileen was treated for breast cancer beginning in the fall of 2016. They will continue to raise funds until April 30 (read their story here) as they strive to reach their goal of $20,000.