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Why Joy Fay runs the Marathon
Joy Fay, 39, who runs the Melrose Boot Camp, will be running her
10th Boston Marathon this year. Town correspondent Alix Roy talked to her before Monday's race:
1) Biggest question we always ask marathoners is why do you run?
I wasn't always a runner. I started walking for fitness and enjoyed being outside. I soon realized other benefits. Becoming a runner wasn't something I pushed myself to do but rather it was a natural progression. Running has made me mentally and physically stronger. The social element for me is also important. It is a healthy activity I can do with friends and has led me to meet outgoing, positive people who have also made health and fitness a priority in their lives. Whether running alone or with friends, running calms me and raises my spirits at the same time. After a run I am a more positive person than before I took my first step out the door.
2) How many marathons have you completed? (other than 10 in Boston)
I ran my first Boston in 2001 and then the Philadelphia Marathon that same year. It's been Boston every year since then.
1) Biggest question we always ask marathoners is why do you run?I wasn't always a runner. I started walking for fitness and enjoyed being outside. I soon realized other benefits. Becoming a runner wasn't something I pushed myself to do but rather it was a natural progression. Running has made me mentally and physically stronger. The social element for me is also important. It is a healthy activity I can do with friends and has led me to meet outgoing, positive people who have also made health and fitness a priority in their lives. Whether running alone or with friends, running calms me and raises my spirits at the same time. After a run I am a more positive person than before I took my first step out the door.
2) How many marathons have you completed? (other than 10 in Boston)
I ran my first Boston in 2001 and then the Philadelphia Marathon that same year. It's been Boston every year since then.
3) How did your involvement with the Dana Farber team begin? Has it
spanned the 10 years you've been running, or is it more recent?
I first heard about the Dana-Farber Marathon Team while attending Nike Town running club runs in Boston over 10 years ago. These casual runs were an eye opening experience. I discovered that running wasn't an activity that needed to be limited to people with a specific body type or speed. It was something people of all levels, ages, and body types could participate in.
It was inspirational to meet others who had run marathons and to hear their stories. The running club experience introduced me to the whole social aspect of running. We would often go out to a pub after a run and share race information and running advice. Having never been involved in team sports in school, the fun and supportive team relationship that emerged was something I had never experienced. I met some amazing people like Shane O'Hara, the running coach for the Nike group, and Matt Bergin, an ultra marathoner, whose enthusiasm for the sport was contagious.
Matt shared his Dana-Farber marathon experience with me and he encouraged me to apply to be on the team. So I started thinking about it. Of course this all didn't happen overnight. I ran many shorter races and gained more confidence before I filled out that first application. The Dana-Farber marathon program sounded like an amazing way to combine meeting a personal goal with my desire to help and to honor loved ones who had lost their lives to cancer. I got those chills you get when it is something you just must do! I applied to the team, believing that if it was meant to be ... I'd be accepted ... and I was!
I thought it would be a one time thing, but every time September comes around, I think of the many who would give anything to even have the option of participating. I think of those we run for, and feel incredibly grateful that ... I can.
4) What has been the most rewarding experience for you running marathons and running the Melrose Boot Camp program?
Being a DFMC teammate has been a life-changing experience leading me to explore potential that I otherwise may never have discovered. Without my early Dana-Farber marathon experiences, I don't know if I would be leading fitness programs in Melrose today.
I want others to explore all that is possible with determination, perseverance, and believing you "can." No one from my past would have imagined that my life would take the direction that it has. It is exciting to see my Melrose Boot Camp teammates accomplish things that they may originally, have never thought they could. I get it. I know it takes courage and risk to show up for that first day of boot camp but with each small goal met, even if in the beginning the goal is just showing up, it makes reaching that bigger goal all the more believable. With believing comes achieving. Like the first step out the door at the beginning of a run - it is always the first step that is the hardest.
Donations to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge on Joy's behalf may be made on her donation page.
I first heard about the Dana-Farber Marathon Team while attending Nike Town running club runs in Boston over 10 years ago. These casual runs were an eye opening experience. I discovered that running wasn't an activity that needed to be limited to people with a specific body type or speed. It was something people of all levels, ages, and body types could participate in.
It was inspirational to meet others who had run marathons and to hear their stories. The running club experience introduced me to the whole social aspect of running. We would often go out to a pub after a run and share race information and running advice. Having never been involved in team sports in school, the fun and supportive team relationship that emerged was something I had never experienced. I met some amazing people like Shane O'Hara, the running coach for the Nike group, and Matt Bergin, an ultra marathoner, whose enthusiasm for the sport was contagious.
Matt shared his Dana-Farber marathon experience with me and he encouraged me to apply to be on the team. So I started thinking about it. Of course this all didn't happen overnight. I ran many shorter races and gained more confidence before I filled out that first application. The Dana-Farber marathon program sounded like an amazing way to combine meeting a personal goal with my desire to help and to honor loved ones who had lost their lives to cancer. I got those chills you get when it is something you just must do! I applied to the team, believing that if it was meant to be ... I'd be accepted ... and I was!
I thought it would be a one time thing, but every time September comes around, I think of the many who would give anything to even have the option of participating. I think of those we run for, and feel incredibly grateful that ... I can.
4) What has been the most rewarding experience for you running marathons and running the Melrose Boot Camp program?
Being a DFMC teammate has been a life-changing experience leading me to explore potential that I otherwise may never have discovered. Without my early Dana-Farber marathon experiences, I don't know if I would be leading fitness programs in Melrose today.
I want others to explore all that is possible with determination, perseverance, and believing you "can." No one from my past would have imagined that my life would take the direction that it has. It is exciting to see my Melrose Boot Camp teammates accomplish things that they may originally, have never thought they could. I get it. I know it takes courage and risk to show up for that first day of boot camp but with each small goal met, even if in the beginning the goal is just showing up, it makes reaching that bigger goal all the more believable. With believing comes achieving. Like the first step out the door at the beginning of a run - it is always the first step that is the hardest.
Donations to the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge on Joy's behalf may be made on her donation page.
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