The Boston Experience: How a Bank of America Employee, Kathy Smith Earned Her Bib at 2026 Boston

DFW Running Talk: Kathy Smith
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Chris Detzel: Alright, welcome to another DFW Running Talk. I'm Chris Tetzel and this is the Boston Series, and this is a live Boston series that we're at. Today's special guest is Kathy Smith. Kathy, how are you? I'm doing great. Thank you Chris. I appreciate you coming on and you've got such a great story. It's pretty cool.

By the way, we're at Park Plaza. Boston. And again, we're live, we're super excited. We're kinda live, we're doing this together live. But Kathy, you have such an interesting story. I wanna get to it. Tell me a little bit about, when you first started running, what got you into the distance running and all that kind of stuff?

Okay. To start with, I would say it would be November of 2009. I was almost 200 pounds. Wow. And I knew I needed to lose some weight, but I like to eat too. We all do. Yes. So about November 20 2009, I, that's when I decided I needed to do something. So bottom line is I started walking every day. I started walking and probably by June of 2010, I was down 25 pounds.

Wow. Just from walking. From walking [00:01:00] and eating better. Yeah, eating better. I guess if you were doing no exercise and then you actually started walking, right? That is helpful. So later that year in 2010, I got tired of walking and started adding some jogging to it. Okay. In I wanna say January 1st, new Year's day 2011, I joined the Rock Wall Running Club.

Wow. And at that point, I didn't think that I could run early in the morning before work that I didn't have time. Coach Barrett was doing coach Barrett was doing track workouts twice. Maybe Mondays and Wednesdays in the evenings. Yeah. I would go to those and by March I had my first stress fracture of in my femur.

Oh, wow. And so I got over that. And how long did that take to get over and do you Oh, it was a good six weeks. Solid six weeks. And so it really started from there. My femur stress fracture healed, but it wasn't my last stress fracture. Oh man. Yeah. But yeah, and I just kept running from there. Okay. And so as you started running, did [00:02:00] you, how many marathons have you run?

What's the, do you remember? When I run Boston on Monday, it will be my sixth marathon. It'll be of course my first Boston, my second major because I've ran Chicago twice. Okay. Wow. I've ran, you've run six marathons of, two of 'em are Chicago. That's fair. Yeah. Yeah. I ran, my first one was sim. Yeah. And I've done Las Vegas and I've done New Orleans.

Okay. So you never did any in DDFW or not a marathon? No. In DFW I've probably done over a hundred half marathons. Yeah. Yeah. So much more fun doing half. It's all right. You're running the Boston Marathon this weekend, or on Monday, actually. It's Saturday day. And so let's get to that piece.

But before we do let's talk a little bit about your, how you got up to this, okay. You're gonna make me cry now. Oh really? I like Torness. I think I always wanted to find out what the Boston experience was. Yeah. As a runner, I tried [00:03:00] once to get into a charity. But that didn't work out. Okay. And Carrie is my travel buddy, Carrie Varner. Yeah. And she's ran four, this, I think this is her. 14th. That's right. Straight Boston. I travel a lot with her to runs and back in. I worked for Bank of America. I worked, I have worked for Bank of America for 47 years.

Wow. Yeah. And I thought you were like 40. Thank you. Thank you. Bank of America took over sponsorship of the Boston Marathon back in 2024. I was already booked to go with Carrie. To come to Boston just to run the 5K. Yeah. Just to have the experience of the Boston weekend. Yeah. Yeah. And but yeah, my plane was already booked, hotel, everything.

And then I find out that Bank of America is now the sponsor. So I'm thinking I wanna do something while I'm there. Yeah. So I applied to get [00:04:00] into, be a volunteer. Okay. And that is not an easy process. I really had to, when I didn't hear anything at first, and it was getting close to April, whatever that year for the Boston Marathon, and I had to reach out to them again and say, Hey, I haven't heard anything.

I'm just checking picture. And it, they had no idea I was an employee, so it had nothing, it had, it has nothing to do with being an employee. Yeah. But I did that first year. I worked the finish line with the para athletes, which I learned so much. It was such a rewarding experience. Last year I came back and again, ran the 5K.

I did a gear check last year. Okay. And each year, bank of America, for their employees, they have a random drawing. I did apply for it in 24 and 25. Didn't get in. 26, probably late last September, October. I got [00:05:00] an email that said, congratulations, you're gonna run 2026 Boston Marathon. Oh, I bet that was a, yeah.

Amazing. It was. This guy, I'm in tears at my desk and this guy turns around and goes, what's wrong with you? I said I'll go to run the Boston Marathon. Yeah. Hello? Oh, here I am. Boston Marathon Weekend. So one of the things you mentioned was in your first year, you get to. Do something with the para para athletes.

Yes. And that was a very amazing experience. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about, what made that so amazing? They come in and their hands are bloody. You know they're doing the wheelchair. Yeah. And they have on, they do wear gloves, but their hands are bloody And you're going, holy cow.

Yeah. They've, these athletes have worked so hard and what is such a difference? My gear check and their gear check. Yeah. You have to remember that part of their gear. Is their everyday wheelchair. Everyday wheelchair. So we had to take their bags and their [00:06:00] everyday wheelchairs that they would move to after the race off these trucks, move them in line.

So when they came through, gave them their medal and help them in any way we could. Yeah. We also learned that morning how to carry. Their competitive bike, whatever it is their vehicle that they were racing in. We had to learn how to carry that because some of them don't have coaches or family with them, and they need help to get back to their hotel.

Okay. It's a whole ordeal. It was. It was. It was extraordinary. It really was. That was powerful. Oh I really appreciate you sharing that. You did gear check and things. How did that go? What was that? Gear check is fun, you're there not only to accept, everybody what they need at the end of the race.

But you're there to say, Hey, you can do this. You got this, where are you from? Yeah. You've got it. This is your victory lab. I love that. It's also just as rewarding. It really is. Just wish every brunner good luck. And the way I tell people the Boston Marathon, for those that don't know, especially in [00:07:00] the us is the Super Bowl of it, is, since running, a lot of times you have to be the best of the best to get in your h Kurt.

And yes, you can get in right. Maybe there's some sponsorship and Yeah. You can get in through charities and Right, and things like that. But if you qualify, then that's really the, again, the Super Bowl, it's hard to get in. It is, it's of the best. And and it's a, just the race in itself, since the bombing in 2013 has just been.

Outta control in a good way. And it's just so popular. And even talking to folks that are here, I've had some conversations with people from Australia, another person from I forgot the other country, but Poland and, they're excited, people, like you said, from all over the country is right.

Excited. Here you are now, you get to run the Boston Marathon. What are you looking forward to the most? What's the right. This is let say you've been to do for what? I'm not. I'm running the Boston Marathon with Ed. Signed my BIB yesterday. You did? You didn't tell me. I didn't know that.

Ed signed my bib, so I'm very excited about [00:08:00] that. Oh, that's great. What am I looking for? You're gonna keep that bit right? Oh, yes. I was told that it had framed a hundred percent yes. Yeah. From the very beginning, I told my coach, I said, I'm not looking for a bq. I'm not looking for a pr, I'm looking for the Boston experience.

I want an experience, I want a memorable experience. I had a great training cycle, so I just wanna finish healthy. I have my son here and my daughter-in-law. It'll be fine. I'm excited. Talk about that Boston experience. What does that mean to you? What is the Boston experience? To me it's the finish line.

Yeah, it's the finish line. I know after I crossed the finish line, I'm gonna go to a corner that's near the medical tent because the past two years that I have volunteered when I finished my volunteer opportunity. Yep. I end up at this corner helping some other volunteers work this corner. Okay. And it's near the [00:09:00] medical tent.

I help people with getting wheelchairs. Yeah. If the media is there, but she doesn't know the lady that works that corner. She doesn't know you're doing this. I think her name is Diana. Okay. If I remember correctly. And she always called me Texas. So I'm gonna run that co to that corner and give her a hug.

Yeah. I love that. This has been a great interview. What would you say, ending this, like what's your thoughts, to tell everybody or, anything that we missed? I have four grandsons and they're all athletic and they're like, I can't believe my nana is running the Boston Marathon again.

I thought you were a 40, so thank you. Thank you. I wanna leave my kids, my grandkids with that memory that, yeah, their mom, their grandma ran in the Boston Marathon. It's been amazing. Kathy, thank really appreciate coming on. That was so inspiring to me. Thank you for the invitation always.

And thank you everyone for Tune in to another, do you have W Running Talk? I'm Chris Tetzel. Please rate and review us and go to our newsletter at dfw running [00:10:00] talk.substack.com and find us there. Thanks everyone. Thank you.