Training for a marathon takes commitment. It is a physically demanding, time-consuming, emotionally charged commitment. Now imagine you have run the Boston Marathon consecutively for 30 years. Plus at least 20 other marathons. And nine more Boston Marathon races.
Rich Houston has. He fully embodies the truest meaning of commitment, the least of which is running for IMPACT Melanoma for the seventh time in a row.
Rich ran the Lowell Marathon (now known as the Bay State Marathon) in February of 1979, qualifying for the Boston Marathon. After paying about a $3 entrance fee, Rich became one of the roughly 5,900 finishers of the April 1979 Boston Marathon. He drove himself to the start in Hopkinton, parked at the high school, picked up his bib and walked to the starting line. He crossed the finish line on Ring Road at the Prudential Center and walked down into the parking garage to gather his bag dropped back off from Hopkinton.
For perspective, today’s entrance fee is $250 and 30,000 runners compete. Runners wait in Athletes’ Village until their assigned wave, bib number and corral assignment are called to line up. Runners cross the famed finish line on Boylston Street under the iconic archway, surrounded by cheering fans into a well-organized maze of medical tents and bag pickup areas.
Rich says the Boston Marathon has become an annual rite, but goals have changed over the decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was running with a team, not for recreation but competitive athletics. With age, the level of his training has decreased by about a third of what it once was.
Rich explains, “I’m a daily runner. Over the years I’ve probably gone three or four years without missing a day. Then you don’t have to go into extreme training, trying to get in shape. The target each year was run fast enough to get re-qualified and then I don’t have another marathon until next April.”
Five years ago, Rich joined the ranks of the Quarter Century Club, a privileged group of runners completing 25 sequential Boston Marathons. The “QCC” has given the marathon a more social gathering atmosphere, enjoying dinner during marathon weekend and always starting in the same corral on race day.
“We run along together and chit chat although the rate of conversation usually slows down the farther into the race we get,” Rich says, laughing.
The one year he didn’t think he would qualify, Rich began looking for a charity to support, specifically one he’d be enthusiastic about being engaged with. Growing up in a time when prevention wasn’t popular or even frankly discussed, IMPACT Melanoma’s mission strikes a chord with Rich. His family has been impacted by melanoma, with at least half a dozen members having fought the disease. The susceptibility of his family has made Rich particularly sensitive to the importance of prevention. He strives to practice prevention with his own children and grandson. IMPACT Melanoma’s mission matches his sensibility. Rich says he’s happy to do his small part with Team IMPACT regardless of whether he has qualified for the next year’s marathon. IMPACT Melanoma’s mission is too important to him: “All of the people with Team IMPACT have proven themselves to be just a fantastic team in achieving what they [set out to] do and are a great group of people working on an important cause.”
We applaud Rich’s commitment to running and to Team IMPACT. If you’d like to support Rich as he runs for IMPACT Melanoma on April 21, click here.
