Boston Marathon dear to hearts of Nova Scotia runners

One of the world's epic marathons, the Boston Marathon, is Monday and 120 Nova Scotians will be among the 30,000 runners in the gruelling 42-kilometre race.

The event has a special place in the hearts of local runners, dating back to Johnny Miles who won the event twice back in the 1920's.

Four Nova Scotians who've been hard at training for their annual pilgrimage to the classic race talk about their experiences at the Boston Marathon.

Ray Williams

Ray Williams first ran in the Boston Marathon in 1979. The 61-year-old will mark his 19th Boston marathon this year.

What does he like about this event? "It's the granddaddy of marathons in North America."

He also likes that no other marathon outside of Nova Scotia draws so many Bluenosers.  "Boston has a special connection to Halifax, with the Halifax explosion," Williams said while running recently in Point Pleasant Park. 

He also likes the fact that you need to run a certain qualifying time, depending on your age group in order to get into the event. Making that standard gives each runner a certain credibility. Even though this marathon is number 19, it never gets easier.

"Mile 20 — Heartbreak Hill. You suffer for the last five miles," Williams said half smiling.

Malcolm Pain

Malcolm Pain, at 78, is perhaps the oldest Nova Scotian in the group of 120 Bluenosers heading to Boston.

His dream is still to be running it in two years time when he turns 80. This is his seventh trip to Boston and his race times in the last few years keep getting better.

"I've gotten faster every year," Pain says while running quickly and not breathing hard. 

This year, he hopes to run it in under 3 hours, 55 minutes. Williams says if Pain accomplishes that, he'll probably be in the top three in his age group.  And that's impressive.

Dave Nevitt

Dave Nevitt is racing in his 18th Boston Marathon, but overall, he has run a grand total of 138 marathons.

He enjoys the camaraderie between runners he trains with, who travel down to Boston for the race.

"We do it as a group every year. We train together through the winter. We have a really good time travelling to Boston together."

His first trip to Boston was 1992. He is competing in the 55-59 age group and hoping to run 3:04 on Monday.

David Holder

David Holder jokes that the best part of running the Boston Marathon is the finish. This will be his 10th trip to Boston. 

One of the challenges when you are in an event with 30,000 runners is you never really get near the front.

"In some ways for a runner, it's a humbling experience to run Boston when you are used to being a little closer to the front in events at home," Holder says. But that humbling experience is replaced by the joy of crossing the finish line, he adds.

All four runners were in Boston in 2013 when tragedy rocked the event with the bombing at the finish line.

That only hardened their resolve to keep going, to support the marathon that has played such a big role in their lives.