Suni Williams made history nearly 20 years ago when she became the first person to run a marathon in space and in April she will run the distance on Earth at the Boston Marathon.
The Boston Athletic Association revealed on Thursday that Williams will receive the Patriots’ Award for her service as a U.S. Navy captain and astronaut and that she will line up with 30,000 participants at this year’s race on April 20.
According to the BAA, the annual Patriots’ Award is given to a New England–based person, group, or organization that is “patriotic, philanthropic and inspirational, while fostering goodwill and sportsmanship.” Williams was born in Ohio but grew up in Needham, Massachusetts.
Williams, 60, has the distinction of the being the first person to run a marathon in space when she completed the distance on April 16, 2007 in 4:23:46 and was listed as an entrant for that year’s Boston Marathon. She ran aboard the International Space Station on a treadmill attached to a harness to counteract the effects of weightlessness.
Astronaut Tim Peake later ran a marathon in 2016 aboard the ISS with a similar setup. Peake finished in 3:35 in conjunction with the London Marathon.
Williams retired in December after 27 years with NASA. She is one of the most experienced spacewalkers with her nine walks being the second-most by a woman with a total spacewalk time of 62 hours.
She drew headlines in June 2024 as a member of the Boeing Crew Flight Test, the first crewed mission of the Boeing Starliner, when she and Barry E. Wilmore were stranded aboard the International Space Station for nine months. Their mission was only supposed to last eight days but was hampered by technical issues like a helium leak and propulsion system malfunction.
Williams and Willmore returned to Earth last March after 286 days in a SpaceX vessel as part of a crew with two other astronauts who were wrapping up a separate mission.
In an interview with WCVB in Boston on Thursday, Williams explained her motivation for wanting to finally run the distance on Earth.
“I turned 60 this year, so why not give it another shot?” she said.
Williams revealed that she actually completed the course when she was 17, although not formally entered. She said she wanted to run Boston before joining the United States Naval Academy.
“As I was getting ready to go to college and join the military — join the Navy — I was lamenting that I wasn’t going to get a chance to run the marathon. And my mom said ‘get your shoes on, let’s go. I’m going to take you to Hopkinton and drop you off. Here’s a quarter and call me if you have any problems.'”
Williams hinted at during her keynote speech at the Merrimack College graduation ceremony in May that she was was hoping to finally run Boston formally.
