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

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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. 

“The fundraising and our donors was a big motivation to keep running yesterday,” said Eileen.

And while they pulled up the rear of the pack – remember, they’re field hockey players – they did find something at the end of the race.

“We finished in time to get medals, which made us very happy!” said Eileen.

Times of Belmont :

  1. Alfonso Marquez  3:07:47
  2. Tony Luongo  3:23:18
  3. Emily Cody  3:31:28
  4. Sarah Poplawski  3:32:50
  5. Laurie Nahigian  3:35:13
  6. Becca Pizzi. 3:35:55
  7. Lisa Engler  3:37:01
  8. Seth Waterman  3:37:58
  9. Konstantin Tyurin  3:40.36
  10. Sam Gross  3:49:44
  11. Peter Tagge  3:49:48
  12. William Marinell  3:50:29
  13. Mike Ascione 3:50:31
  14. Carrie Mallozzi  3:57:18
  15. Meredith Plault  4:00:18
  16. Katie Brace  4:00:22
  17. Jana Montoya  4:10:13
  18. Chris Poli  4:11:30
  19. Edward Amer  4:12:50
  20. Christine Bowe  4:18:24
  21. Richard Newton. 4:18:51
  22. Melissa Hart  4:39.16
  23. Satomi Kato  5:00:26
  24. Andy Schreiner. 5:00:55
  25. Sarkis Chekijian  5:05:13
  26. Peter Thomson 5:15:39
  27. Rabie Angadi 5:26:00
  28. Peter Walker 5:26:47
  29. Meaghan Rocha  5:27:27
  30. Carol Berberian 5:31:25
  31. Maria Martins 5:44:17
  32. Kai Saukkonen  6:01:42
  33. Stephen Najarian  6:03:40
  34. Richard Horgan. 6:14:53
  35. Deb Rooney  6:19:18
  36. Eileen Habelow  6:22:13

Fast Times For Belmont’s BAA Marathoners

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Your neighbors are a quick lot!

Belmont runners produced some outstanding results at Monday’s 118th Boston Athletic Association Marathon, the historic annual 26.2 mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston’s Copley Square to celebrate Patriots’ Day, April 21.

Of the 42 who finished the race, 40 percent, 17, ran under four hours, a great accomplishment for any runner.

And just like the men’s race, where American Meb Keflezighi won the race by 11 seconds, it was a close contest for the first Belmont resident across the line as Roger Donaghy finished nine seconds ahead of fellow BAA member Ryan McCalmon, 2 hours, 36 minutes and 17 seconds vs 2:36:26, placing 213th while Ryan finished 217th.

Rachel Reardon was the female Belmont runner, finishing in 3:25:15, or 7,490th overall, ahead of 25,000 fellow runners, and 1,225th among all women.

But it was in the veteran’s categories that Belmont runners made their mark. Fifty-six-year-old Wolfgang Ketterle finished third in the 55-59 age group in 2:44:06, less than three minutes from the winning time. He placed 528th overall.

Hammond Road’s Robert Cipriano ran a possible personal best in the marathon in 2 hour, 40 minutes and 48 seconds to finish 4th in the 50-54 age group, placing 364th.

Here are all the results from the race:

  1. Scott Abrams, 3:37:45
  2. Anne Antonellis, 4:40:28
  3. Cara Brickley, 4:31:55
  4. John Carey, 3:13:14
  5. Sarkis Chekijian, 3:42:11
  6. Robert Cipriano, 2:40:47
  7. Kelly Coates, 6:14:43
  8. Charlie Conroy, 3:05:03
  9. Virginia Cox, 3:53:19
  10. David DeMarco, 4:06:28
  11. Roger Donaghy, 2:36:17
  12. Paul Feloney, 4:22:19
  13. Paul Firth, 4:38:32
  14. Jonathan Haines, 3:59:19
  15. Bill Hees, 5:22:45
  16. Christopher Heuisler, 3:32:29
  17. Richard Horgan, 5:27:31
  18. James Kelleher, 4:58:31
  19. Wolfgang Ketterle, 2:44:06
  20. Peter Lamb, 4:45:28
  21. Russell Leino, 3:06:15
  22. Mark Lewis, 6:35:29
  23. David MacDonald, 5:03:49
  24. Eric Marro, 4:54:57
  25. Leslie Mauriello, 4:43:14
  26. Ryan McCalmon, 2:36:25
  27. Carolyn Mehaffey, 3:58:36
  28. Karyn Miller-Medzon, 4:26:36
  29. Joseph Mullaney, 4:53:48
  30. Stephen Najarian, 5:34:58
  31. Carrie Palmer, 5:08:19
  32. Oswald Paredes, 5:24:42
  33. John Pilkington-Sperry, 4:40:10
  34. Becca Pizzi, 3:40:15
  35. Rachel Reardon, 3:25:15
  36. Kristen Ruane, 5:27:20
  37. Alissa Schreiner, 3:56:39
  38. Andrew Schreiner, 3:59:03
  39. Emily Seaver, 4:41:41
  40. Hannah Swartz, 5:00:05
  41. Kimberly Usseglio, 4:27:45
  42. James Winter, 5:15:02