Human stories at Boston
Boston’s build-up also includes human-interest angles: Sandra Gittlen is running to raise funds for a new Baypath shelter and proudly identifies as a ‘back‑of‑the‑pack’ runner, while Michael Davis, 70, will run his 41st Boston Marathon alongside his son. (Hopkinton Independent | (nationaltoday.com))
One Boston Marathon runner says she is proud to be “back of the pack,” and another is 70 years old and lining up for his 41st start with his son beside him for the first time on Monday, April 20, 2026. The race itself is the 130th Boston Marathon, with more than 32,000 entrants and about 30,000 expected to run from Hopkinton to Boston. (baa.org | rrm.com | nationaltoday.com) Sandra Gittlen is running Boston for the seventh time, and she says this one is tied to a deadline: Baypath Humane Society’s new shelter on Fruit Street is scheduled to be completed in 2026. She has spent three years as co-chair of the campaign for the $6.5 million project. (hopkintonindependent.com | baypathhumane.org) Baypath’s current building still works, but the group says it has outgrown it. The new shelter is planned with medical facilities, larger animal spaces, and adoption areas designed to handle more animals and more visitors. (baypathhumane.org) Gittlen is not selling a comeback story or a personal-best time. She told the Hopkinton Independent, “I’m never going to be fast at all,” and she framed her race around finishing and fundraising rather than pace. (hopkintonindependent.com) That approach has history behind it. A 2022 profile said Gittlen had raised nearly $50,000 for Baypath through Boston Marathon runs, and a local roundup this week again described her as a longtime Baypath volunteer heading out to raise money for the new building. (hopkintonindependent.com | hopkintonindependent.com) Michael Davis is coming at the same race from the opposite end of the experience curve. He is 70, he has already run Boston 40 times, including 36 straight years, and this April will be his 41st start. (nationaltoday.com | nz.news.yahoo.com) The new part is his son Nick Davis. Nick is making his Boston Marathon debut after a career in dance and musical theater, including a role in “Kinky Boots,” and he now works as a fitness trainer. (nationaltoday.com | nz.news.yahoo.com) So the same 26.2-mile course is carrying two very different family stories this year. For Gittlen, each mile is attached to kennels, exam rooms, and adoption space in Hopkinton; for Davis, each mile adds one more chapter to a streak that now stretches across decades and into the next generation. (baypathhumane.org | nationaltoday.com) That is part of what makes Boston different from a race that is only about winners. The Boston Athletic Association says runners this year are coming from 137 countries and all 50 states, and the stories drawing local attention are not only about who breaks the tape but also about who is still showing up, year after year, for a shelter, a family, or both. (rrm.com | baa.org)
