Suni Williams at Boston
- Astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams is entered as the Patriots' Award recipient at the Boston Marathon this year. - Williams was recently back on Earth after 286 days in space before being announced as a notable entrant. - Her participation adds celebrity and public‑interest attention to the 130th race weekend (cbsnews.com).
Sunita “Suni” Williams is set to run the 2026 Boston Marathon as the race’s Patriots’ Award recipient on Monday, April 20. (baa.org) The Boston Athletic Association announced Williams’ honor on February 18 as part of its lineup for the 130th Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America. The race organization said more than 30,000 runners from around the world are expected across race weekend. (baa.org, cbsnews.com) Williams is a Needham, Massachusetts, native and former National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut. CBS Boston reported this will be her second Boston Marathon after her 2007 run from the International Space Station, which it described as the first marathon completed in space. (cbsnews.com) Her return to Boston comes a year after NASA brought her back to Earth on March 18, 2025, aboard SpaceX Crew-9. NASA said Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore spent 286 days in space after launching on Boeing’s Starliner Crew Flight Test in June 2024 and later returning with Crew-9. (nasa.gov, nasa.gov) NASA said Williams retired from the agency in January 2026 after 27 years of service. In that span, NASA said she flew three missions, logged 608 days in space, and completed nine spacewalks totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes. (nasa.gov) The Patriots’ Award is one of the Boston Marathon’s annual ceremonial honors, announced alongside the Grand Marshal and the Rick and Dick Hoyt Award recipient. For 2026, the Grand Marshal is Bill Rodgers, the four-time Boston Marathon champion whose wins came in 1975, 1978, 1979, and 1980. (baa.org) Williams also joins a field of celebrity and notable entrants that CBS Boston said includes actor Matt James, singer JoJo, and former New England Patriots players Logan Ryan and Tedy Bruschi. The same report said her entry has become one of the public-facing storylines ahead of Monday’s race. (cbsnews.com) For Boston, Williams brings together two local identities at once: a hometown astronaut and a marathoner returning to the city’s signature race. By Monday morning in Hopkinton, she will be back in a familiar kind of endurance test, this time on pavement instead of in orbit. (cbsnews.com, baa.org)
