Mackenzie Loy first ran in the Boston Marathon with her father in 2013, the year the race was bombed. She was in her senior year at Tufts University and a member of the Tufts Marathon Team. Just like thousands of other runners, Loy and her father, Steven, never made it to the finish line that day. Loy was stopped at mile 25, just a mile from the finish line.
Last year, Loy and her dad made an emotional return to the Boston Marathon course and finally completed the race.
“When we crossed the line, there were a few tears,” she said. “It was a very emotional moment.”
Loy has been training in Boston again this year, but this time she is not gearing up for the local race, instead she has her sights on the Paris Marathon, which will take place on Sunday. Loy will run alone this time and her father will cheer her on from the sidelines, along with Loy’s mother.
The athlete says she fell in love with France when she studied in Aix-en-Provence, in southern France, during her junior year at college.
“It was beautiful and lovely. The food was amazing,” she recalled. “I really liked the culture and being in a different environment.”
Loy made her decision to run in this year’s Paris Marathon before the city was struck in January by a terrorist attack at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper.
“I paused when the news first broke about [the attack],” she said. "But I’ve never reconsidered my decision to run.”
Loy is determined to complete the Paris Marathon.
“You can’t let outside events affect your life and how you want to pursue each day and pursue your goals,” she said.
Loy admits that a large part of her marathon training is mental – pushing aside fears that another terrorist attack might end her ambitions.
"I hope it’s not something that I’m thinking about when I’m at the starting line,” she said.
The athlete says that training for the Paris race has reminded her of the simple joy of running.
“I run because it’s something that I love,” she explained. “It has brought me together with so many people who have become so important in my life.”
Loy will face some cobblestone paths in Paris, but the course is relatively flat. She says she won’t miss running up Heartbreak Hill, but she will be thrilled to be running down the Champs-Élysées.
