Saints a Huge Help at World- Record Marathon Monday
Emmanuel College athletes and coaches were a tremendous presence on Marathon Monday in Boston. Eight student-athletes and three coaches volunteered at the 115th running of the Boston Marathon, the oldest annual marathon in the world.
BOSTON, Mass. - Emmanuel College athletes and coaches were a tremendous presence on Marathon Monday in Boston. Eight student-athletes and three coaches volunteered at the 115th running of the Boston Marathon, the oldest annual marathon in the world. Close to 27,000 runners entered the Patriot's Day race, with 98.1% finishing the grueling 26.2 mile course. Emmanuel Saints volunteered with numerous aspects of the race and had the amazing opportunity to see a new world record set with the fastest marathon ever run.
Emmanuel's Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach Tony DaRocha does the men's elite race timing, calling out the runners' splits from the back of the lead vehicle. Assistant Track & Field/Cross Country Coach Alice Kramer drives the lead vehicle for the women's wheelchair race. Incredibly, this was Kramer's 27th year volunteering at the Boston Marathon. Assistant Track & Field Coach Steve Keyes works the starting line in Hopkinton, while Emmanuel alums Carlos Escobar ('07) and Holly Rosa ('07) drive the lead vehicle for the hand cyclist race and the trail vehicle, which helps to re-open the roads.
Emmanuel's eight student-athlete volunteers included: Wesley Cowles (Cross Country/Track & Field), Gregory Brown (Cross Country/Track & Field), Abdi Ibrahim (Cross Country/Track & Field), Mark Poirot (Cross Country/Track & Field), Nathalie Victoria (Volleyball, Track & Field), Joslyn DelSignore (Cross Country/Track & Field), Sarah Gaman (Cross Country/Indoor Track & Field), and Danielle Martin (Cross Country/Track & Field).
The Emmanuel athletes were escorts to the top finishers for the US Antidoping Agency Drug Testing Program at the finish line on Boylston Street. They also handed out water to the top elite athletes. "Our student-athletes had a great experience and witnessed the fastest marathon ever run in the world. It was an amazing race. They were so excited and it was great to see them be a part of something so special," commented Coach Kramer.
"It was a great experience to be able to work with the elite athletes," reflected three-sport sophomore Joslyn DelSignore. "Not many people can say that they escorted world-class athletes from the finish line. I had the opportunity to witness the fastest marathon ever, and I would do it again in a heartbeat! I'm grateful that our coaches allowed us to have this experience."