The Katie Lynch Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon/5k and Purples Shoes Challenge is moving.
"Katie's Races", a half marathon, 5k and Purple Shoes Challenge, will be happening in November of 2012 with start and finishes at Wayland High School. More details on the event will be coming soon. Stay tuned!
Runners who registered for the Katie Lynch Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon and 5K woke up to the sound of torrential rain. Volunteers were already on the course at Newton South High School preparing for the race well before dawn. Drenched but excited, they worked enthusiastically in anticipation of the sound of the starter’s pistol. No dampened spirits here!
Around metro Boston, runners got out of bed, made breakfast, coffee and did their race prep. The rain continued falling heavily. Everyone was wondering just how wet this race would be!
The runners began the march to the starting line and, as if on command the rain ceased. Perfect timing - perfect conditions for a race: cool, cloudy and dry. And that’s the way it stayed until the last runner crossed the finish line.
There were some special stories this year. In the 5K we welcomed our first wheelchair division and were fortunate to have Anjali Forber-Pratt, third place 2011 Boston Marathon and paralympic 2008 double medalist and current world champion in the 200 meter, run the course.
In the half John Young, a short statured man from Salem, MA completed the half marathon, setting a PR along the way.
The Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon and 5K were designed to be tough. To give runners a challenge- something beyond distance and time to overcome. We purposely developed an arduous course as a tribute to Katie’s gift for overcoming the rugged terrain of her life. On completion we wanted the runners to know they had done something special.
What we find most impressive about the runners who come to Katie’s race is that despite the difficulty, despite the hills many people end up setting PR’s on our course. We tell people not to expect to set records, yet year after year, they do. What we do know is that volunteers and runners alike share in the triumphs.
Please enjoy the 2011 video of the Heartbreak Hill Half Marathon and Purple Shoes Challenge.