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09/24/2024 10:57 AMIt started with a simple decision to stay in shape about 30 years ago. But for Bruce Beebe, the choice turned out to be one of the more pivotal moments in his life that led to him becoming one of the more decorated runners in New England who has logged so many miles and memorable moments.
The Madison resident decided that in order to get in shape, he would start small with one-mile runs after work still in his office attire. He was directed to the Madison Turkey Trot around 1994 and decided to take part in that. From there, Bruce’s pride and passion to pound the pavement took off.
After several local races and half marathons, he decided to try his hand at qualification for the Boston Marathon. Following a training session that lasted three years, he made his maiden voyage for the event. Flash forward to present day, and Bruce completed his 26th consecutive run in 2024 at the Marathon and earned a slot in the Quarter Century Club–meaning he has a lifetime pass to the event and never has to qualify for it again.
“It’s incredible, and I am grateful to be able to do it 26 years in a row. When I started with the Turkey Trot, I thought then that five miles was a lot. I read up on the Boston Marathon, and so after I qualified for the first one and ran, I said to myself I wanted to do it again,” says Bruce. “Next thing you know, it is five, 10, and then 15 years in a row. After the 15th year, I knew I had to keep it going. It is a lot of time and training. To qualify, you have to get up early at 4 a.m. in January when it’s zero degrees outside and do those things no one sees. I do about five or six marathons a year, and it is a lot of fun to travel and see different people and be part of a community of good people.”
The first one is always the most memorable. Yet Bruce has shown himself as a true iron man by competing and completing the marathon through all weather and physical conditions. Through the good and unfortunately tragic occurrences in Boston through the years, he kept trudging onward.
“The first one was great because I had worked so hard and long. It was an emotional lift when I crossed that finish line. The 2012 run was a hot one; it was 90 degrees at the finish. I just wanted to survive, but I was determined to get to that finish line,” Bruce says. “The next year, I came in about half an hour before the bombs went off and heard it when I came out of the parking garage. It is something I will never forget, hearing the people screaming and the smell of it. I tore my meniscus six days before 2015. I was sitting on the bus to the start, staring at the road and wondering how I was going to do it. I was in bad foot pain 100 feet in, but I was able to find a way to scoot with my legs. In 2018, there was a cold rain and downpour, and I was completely soaked before the start.”
Moving beyond those benchmark years, Bruce actually hit another big career milestone the following year after the raw run in the rain. During the pandemic, he had to fight out weary legs just getting over Covid. Still, no matter the circumstances, Bruce always endears himself to the swarm of spectators.
“I lined up my marathons so that Boston would be my 100th, which was special,” says Bruce, who now sits at 111 marathons completed. “In 2020, I had just been over Covid for six days, so I was not contagious, but still wiped. I just stayed in between the waves of runners and ran by myself. From start to finish, you come across about a million spectators. I am always stopping to see the kids and talk to them and ask how they are doing, and I also stop and talk to runners that may be struggling. Even back here, I have joined running groups, and we just talk and run the entire time. It is like a therapy session, and before you know it, you ran like eight miles. You develop really special relationships that way with people.”
Kameron Shahid has been one of those local running mates alongside Bruce. He details that while he and Bruce are on the same level with many aspects of life, he is more than astounded by Bruce’s stamina and longevity in the racing game.
“I think very highly of Bruce. We met at a half marathon in Mystic where we each won our age groups, and we just started talking and running from there and have been running weekly for the last eight years,” says Shahid. “We run at a conversational pace and have fun. We are on the same wavelength and pace with a lot of things. As a runner, he is a freak of nature. To be 63 years old and to run at his pace is very rare. To be in the Quarter Century Club is huge because there are probably only about 100 people in it. It is just phenomenal and speaks to his physical longevity and mental toughness. He does not do things lightly; there is no second gear for him. He is a special runner and person.”
Through the grit and grind of constant running in all avenues and settings, Bruce has gained great mental and physical benefactors. Not only does he have the luxury of enjoying the finer culinary treats based off of his sweat, but he has also gained essentially a fountain of youth.
“I have run so much it has become part of my natural life like breathing air,” says Bruce. “I also like that I can eat what I want and maybe enjoy that ice cream at the end of the day because I know I burned so many calories and will burn more the next morning. It is great to be in good physical condition. I am 63 now, and I feel the same when I was 20. Through the shape I'm in through running, I do not feel any limitations on what I can do.”
At the moment, Bruce is looking to repair and rehab some of his joints. He is not taking his eye off the next objective on his mind–making his annual journey over the border to Beantown and crossing that white line for the 27th time in a row.
“I have been dealing with a left knee injury for the last month or so and have been bicycling,” Bruce says. “I need to get it taken care of, and so I hope to be running again by the end of the year. My goal is to get back to Boston and get back to a total time of under four hours for it. Yet I also need to realize that if my knee is still bothering me, I will be slower, which can be challenging to accept. But I still want to keep going and never stop.”