FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Just qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a monumental achievement for many runners.
One of the thousands running on Monday was an educator from Frankfort, Linda Word.
She is from Massachusetts, so after the race, she stayed behind with family for a few days.
Word’s first day back at Capital Day School was on Friday.
“One of my coworkers met me at the door, and said put your things down. And I said, oh no,” said Word.
The hallway was with students as Word triumphantly broke through her second finish line of the week.
“I didn’t cry, but it was so great to see, you know, have all my kids there. That was, yeah, I was glad to see them. And very glad to see such a surprise,” said Word.
Monday’s race was a culmination of an 11 year journey.
“When I first started running, I thought maybe I’ll get fast enough. I never really thought that it would happen,” said Word.
Monday’s race marked was the six year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, bringing more emotion to a day that the preschool director had trained for so long.
“I spent a lot of time crying during the race just thinking about everybody that helped get me there, and the people that were not there anymore to run,” said Word.
She is getting back to her normal routine. Word even started the morning by running with her group before returning to school.
Now, her training turns to triathlons, but she’ll never forget the journey to Boston.
“The memories will last a long long time on this one,” said Word.
