‘Bloomsday is all about enjoying it’: After conquering injuries and Boston, Cheney’s Carrie Franchi excited for Sunday’s race

Carrie Franchi has run the Boston Marathon before in horrendous conditions, and her effort in her return on April 17 could have horrendous in a different way.

Because she followed her doctor’s advice, the 70-year-old finished the race in 4 hours, 45 minutes and 27 seconds to complete a two-year ordeal of training with an ankle injury that in all reality should have kept her from running in Boston.

While training for a qualifying marathon in 2021-22, she suffered a distal tibial stress fracture that derailed her plans. She was able to resume training, and qualified for Boston with a 4:33:07 time at the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon in North Bend, Washington, in June .

Training this past winter with friends from Cheney’s Flightless Birds Running Club was difficult, but was not as troubling as the roadblock she encountered when her injury flared up after an 18-mile training run. She consulted an orthopedic doctor and the news from an MRI was mixed.

“Everything looked good, but he wouldn’t let me do any of my longer runs and he cut my mileage in half,” she said.

“It didn’t bother me during the race, and it’s good now. I’m glad I stopped when I did and didn’t push through the pain. If you don’t listen to your body, you’re going to end up hurting yourself.”

She had a friend who had to pull out two days before Boston because of a hip injury.

“You are going to have to shut down too soon, and who wants to do that?” Franchie asked. “We want to keep doing these things as long as we’re still breathing air.”

Franchi first ran the Boston Marathon at age 65, but the race included a 45-mph headwind, snow, rain and 30-degree temperatures – conditions so severe that race organizers considered canceling.

“The weather was so bad I couldn’t enjoy it, and there were no people out on the course. Fans are normally out there cheering you on, but it was just a disaster because the weather was so horrible.

Nearly 100 people were hospitalized because of hypothermia, Franchi said.

“It was horrendous, and I’ve never seen so many grown people cry,” she said. “Runners would stop and bend over crying because they were so overwhelmed and couldn’t finish.

“They were pulling people off the course because they were delirious, and they had warming tents set up all along the course. They couldn’t cancel it because people came from all over the world to run it.”

The 2023 version had a headwind and was rainy,

“But it wasn’t at all like 2018,” she said. “I consider that a good day.

“I wanted to go back and experience Boston the way it should be experienced. It was great – it was a nonstop cheer tunnel the entire 26 miles.”

A competitive endurance swimmer since age 5 in the freestyle and backstroke, she took up running at age 36 because of a shoulder injury.

“That was forced on me,” she said of a consultation with a doctor. “He told me to let it heal on its own, but he was pulling me from the water for a year. I was like, ‘You might as well shoot me now, because that’s like telling me not to breathe or eat.’ ”

Her doctor allowed her to do triathlons, but with no training for the swimming portion. She hooked up with a friend from a team triathlon squad to help her learn to run.

“I think I made it two blocks, my legs were just reeling,” she said of her first effort

Last year at Bloomsday, Franchi completed the race in 1:13:42 to place fourth among 90 69-year-old females. She was in the top 10 of her age group (65-69), so she secured No. 2 seeding for this year’s event.

Her husband, Gary, finished in 1:34:42 at age 73. They also both competed at the Ironman 70.3 in July in Salem, with Carrie finishing third in the 70-74 age group.

Together with Gary, a former Colorado sportswriter who uses the term, “What a great day to be alive,” at every turn, they vow to continue being active in running, swimming and biking. Carrie will compete in the Hiawatha Trail Run 25K in June, plus numerous half-marathons and summer triathlons.

“I just have good genetics,” she said . “A lot of stuff just comes easy for me. Biking is the hardest for me, but the swimming and running comes real easy.”

She said she is goal-oriented and motivated to continue competing and stay in shape.

She competed in pack burro racing when she lived in Colorado, a competition in which you run through the hills along with a burro. She’ll continue to find new and interesting things to do, and most important, adapt when limitations arise from growing older.

“You can swim until the day you die,” she said. “I’ll always be a swimmer, and I’ll keep running and doing triathlons as long as I can. I don’t like to think about decline – it’s not a word that’s in my vocabulary.

“I’ll keep at it, and heaven forbid, if I can’t run, I’ll keep swimming and biking. You find things to just keep moving.”

Barely a week after she ran in Boston, Carrie and Gary did a training run in Spokane for the opportunity to run Doomsday Hill prior to doing it for real Sunday. Their plan is simple for that race.

“Bloomsday is all about enjoying it,” she said. “There are other races to be more competitive, but with the crowds and people, it’s there to enjoy. We are there to have a good time.”