Grandfather & granddaughter duo
Carlos and Mia Sanchez are set to run the same Boston Marathon on April 20 — a rare grandfather‑granddaughter pairing with no documented history of a qualified duo like them. (bostonherald.com) Their story is part of the local human‑interest coverage as entrants shift from training to race‑week. (lowellsun.com)
Carlos Sanchez, 67, and his granddaughter, Mia Sanchez, 23, are set to run the Boston Marathon together on April 20 after both posted qualifying times last year. (baa.org, dailyfreepress.com) The race is the 130th Boston Marathon, scheduled for Patriots’ Day, Monday, April 20, 2026, with 30,000 participants expected on the course from Hopkinton to Boston. (baa.org, boston.com) Mia qualified in her first marathon, running 3:14:26 at the Ventura Marathon in California. Carlos qualified in 3:50:49, his fastest marathon, on what local coverage described as his 37th attempt to make Boston. (dailyfreepress.com, kvue.com) Those times mattered because Boston is not an open-entry marathon for most runners. Athletes must first hit age- and gender-based standards, then apply during a registration window, and the Boston Athletic Association says meeting the standard still does not guarantee entry if the field is oversubscribed. (baa.org) For the 2026 race, the women’s 18-34 standard was 3:25:00 and the men’s 65-69 standard was 4:05:00. Mia finished more than 10 minutes under her mark, and Carlos came in nearly 15 minutes under his. (baa.org, dailyfreepress.com) The pair’s story has drawn attention because the Boston Athletic Association does not track family relationships in its results, and it could not point The Daily Free Press to another documented grandfather-granddaughter duo in the same race. That makes their April 20 start a rare family milestone even in a race with nearly 130 years of history. (dailyfreepress.com, baa.org) Carlos started running marathons in 2008 after taking up the sport at age 50, according to KVUE. Mia, who said she got into running by watching her grandfather, later ran in college at St. Edward’s University and is now a Harvard graduate student. (kvue.com, dailyfreepress.com) Their qualifying race grew out of a text message in early 2025, when Carlos asked Mia if she felt ready for a marathon and invited her to join him in Ventura. They both left California with Boston-qualifying times and a shared spot on the April start list. (kvue.com, dailyfreepress.com) On April 20, they will line up with thousands of other runners for 26.2 miles to Boylston Street, but few entrants will arrive with a family story this specific: one first-time marathoner, one 17-year chase, and one shared Boston qualifier. (boston.com, dailyfreepress.com)
