Local runners, fundraisers spotlight

With the Boston Marathon nine days away, local coverage across eastern Massachusetts and coastal New Hampshire is zeroing in on the residents filling this year’s field, not just the elites. (baa.org) (metrowestdailynews.com) MetroWest Daily News reported on April 12 that hundreds of runners from MetroWest and Greater Milford hold bib numbers for the 2026 race. Seacoast Online reported the same day that 89 entrants are coming from Seacoast New Hampshire and southern York County, Maine. (metrowestdailynews.com) (seacoastonline.com) Seacoast’s list stretches from 19-year-old Cooper Miller of Greenland to 74-year-old Thomas Adler of Kennebunkport. The report says those 89 runners are part of a field of more than 30,000 expected to cover 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Copley Square on Monday, April 20. (seacoastonline.com) (baa.org) The local focus reflects how the Boston Marathon works beyond the professional race: the Boston Athletic Association fills the field with qualifiers and charity runners tied to schools, clubs, hospitals, and hometown causes. The association says its official charity program gives entries to nonprofits that recruit runners to raise money for healthier communities. (baa.org) That community role is especially visible in Hopkinton, where the race starts and where local officials approved 2026 changes including six start waves instead of four and a new route from the school complex to the start line. Those changes were presented as crowd-management and safety steps ahead of the April 20 race. (myfmtoday.com) (baa.org) One of the hometown fundraising stories is Kim Tucker Tremblay of Hopkinton, who is running for the Hopkinton Emergency Fund. The nonprofit has provided nearly $100,000 in short-term grants over the past five years, and Tucker Tremblay set a $9,000 fundraising goal for her marathon effort. (hopkintonindependent.com) Tucker Tremblay told Hopkinton Independent she sought a charity bib after learning more about families who need help with basic expenses during a crisis. The story says she and her husband moved to Hopkinton more than three years ago and have a 1 1/2-year-old daughter, Callie. (hopkintonindependent.com) In Methuen, WCVB highlighted four runners from the Whirlaway Racing Team of Whirlaway Sports who all battled cancer within the last year: Christin Doneski, Cindy Scully, Nadine Palmer, and Lisa Zappala. WCVB reported that Palmer and Zappala are set to run their 25th consecutive Boston Marathon. (wcvb.com) The race itself is the 130th Boston Marathon, scheduled for Monday, April 20, and the Boston Athletic Association says the event remains the world’s oldest annual marathon. This year’s local stories suggest the loudest cheers in many towns may be for neighbors running for a cause, a club, or a second chance. (baa.org)