‘I feel so proud of what I did today’: Tekoa’s Susannah Scaroni claims first Boston Marathon title
Susannah Scaroni can finally call herself a Boston Marathon champion.
The Tekoa, Washington, native breezed by the women’s wheelchair field in 1 hour, 41 minutes , 45 seconds Monday for her first win in nine attempts at one of the world’s most prestigious racing events.
“There was a good pack of us for the first few miles, but around mile 4 we hit an uphill and I just knew today that I was going to be the strongest racer on those climbs,” Scaroni said. “So that’s where I was really able to make up some time and then eventually pull ahead.”
The victory on the rain-soaked course which begins in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and ends in downtown Boston is just the latest in what has been a nearly unbeatable year for Scaroni. After taking second in Boston last April, the 31-year-old defended her Bloomsday title in May, followed by her first World Marathon Majors victories in Chicago and New York at the end of 2022.
“I can’t deny the fact that I’m in a new racing chair that I love and this time last year it was very new and I was in a new position,” she said. “So I’ve gotten used to this new feel, but this is a progression I’ve seen coming for myself over the past few years as well.”
Scaroni also won her first Paralympic gold medal with a victory in the 5,000 meters during the Tokyo games in 2021. Shortly after returning to her home in Illinois from the Paralympics, she was hit from behind by a car in a training accident that caused a burst fracture of her T8 vertebrae.
“Winning Boston is up there (with the gold medal), I just feel so proud of what I did today,” Scaroni said. “I’d probably still say the gold is still a bit higher up there for me being that on the track everyone can see the distance between you and the competitors while on the street there’s a little more unknown.”
Despite crossing the finish line more than five minutes ahead of second-place Madison de Rozario of Australia (1:46.55), Scaroni’s race was far from uneventful. Around the 10-mile mark, Scaroni was forced to pull to the side of the road to tighten her right wheel.
“The roads were really bumpy today, so all that jostling led to my wheel coming loose,” Scaroni said. “I always carry an Allen key with me, and so it was just much better that early in the race to stop for 30 seconds and get it all tightened instead of trying to make it to the end.”
Scaroni won’t have much time to celebrate her Boston victory, as she faces a quick turnaround for Sunday’s London Marathon – another World Marathon Major race. She will then have a week off before returning to Spokane to try and defend her Bloomsday title.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug (1:17:06) won the men’s wheelchair race, while Kenya’s Evans Chebet (2:05:54) and Hellen Obiri (2:21:39) won the men’s and women’s races respectively.
Monday’s race also marked the 10th anniversary since the 2013 finish-line bombings that killed three and left hundreds injured. The city remembered the anniversary with a ceremony on Saturday.
“The whole weekend has been sprinkled with these tributes and full of memories about that day,” said Scaroni who competed in that 2013 race. “Having runners and hand cyclists that were injured in the bombings back out there competing today just gives me goosebumps thinking about how they can experience that and come back to that same course.
“It really speaks to marathoners and the running community.”