A Day in the Life of Boston Marathon Volunteer Mary Miller

By: Matthew Daugherty

When the prospect of doing an article around the Boston Marathon surfaced, I
jumped all oer it! As a Bostonian at heart I was eager to learn more a"out the eent
that#s "een such a staple of the city! My professor informed me of a B$ %ollege of
%ommunication student named Mary Miller who#s "een closely associated with the
marathon for years! After contacting Mary I soon reali&ed she was e'tremely "usy, "ut
luc(ily she was a"le to s)uee&e me in for an interiew! I had no idea I would "e gien an
all*access pass into the pre*race preparations of the ++,
th
Boston Marathon!
I met up with Mary at -am "y the Boston .u"ic Li"rary! /en "efore we formally
introduced ourseles, I was immediately put to wor(! 0he was helping her "oss /lisa"eth
Worthing moe "o'es out of the old Boston Athletic Association 1B!A!A2 office! 3he
association was recently forced to relocate to a new and improed "uilding in the midst
of the preparations! 3he office was humming! After helping Mary, she tossed me a
isitors pass and said, 4follow me, I#e got a couple things to ta(e care "efore the
interiew!5 And we were off to the Boston Marathon 6um"er .ic(*up at the 7ynes
%onention %enter!
Mary#s "een wor(ing with Boston Athletic Association for oer three years now,
howeer she#s "een part of the race for much longer! Mary grew up around the marathon
as her father has "een olunteering since the day she was "orn! 7er current position
re)uires her to help manage and organi&e thousands of olunteers! 3his year there are
oer +8,888 olunteers up from the ,,988 of last year! 7er jo" was especially challenging
for this race "ecause too many people wanted to help, 4It#s hard to say no to someone
who wants to reach out and help! 0o how do you say no: It#s a weird dynamic and I don#t
li(e doing it!5 Volunteers ta(e a tremendous amount of pride in their jo"s! 3here are only
a"out ;8 full*time B!A!A employees! 3herefore, the outpouring of support is ital to the
success of the marathon!
<n our wal( to "i" collection we passed a group "undled from head to toe in
winter gear! It was the elite African runners! Mary told me, 4<ne of them is going to win
on Monday!5 As we traeled the "ac( route through the %onention %enter we continued
to "ump into important people! We stopped to chat with the sons of the B!A!A president,
the founder of the 6oem"er .roject, and the director of mar(eting for =ohn 7ancoc(!
Mary (new almost eeryone! 7er genuine friendlessness and tremendous passion is
contagious and e'citing, 4this is li(e %hristmas morning! I loe this,5 she told me!
As we entered a massie corridor filled with "o'es of registration "i"s, Mary
spo(e more a"out her jo" and the importance of the olunteers! 0he said, 4a lot of our
olunteers hae "een here for twenty or thirty years, rain or shine! 3hey are all so
passionate!5 Interestingly, most olunteers hae a certain jo" that they loe! >or e'ample,
Mary#s father has tried just a"out eery jo" "ut he loes "i" distri"ution, 4?ou get to
meet people from all oer the world and when you gie some"ody a "i" it means
eerything to them! It can "e a ery emotional!5 3he olunteers truly care and the flood
of support is true testament to this city!
3he Boston Marathon has a distinct aura that is ama&ing to "e a part of! 3he race
"rings the city together! It has always "een such an important part of the city, "ut this
year#s race is sure to "e profound! 3han( you to the thousands of olunteers who didn#t
hesitate to donate their time and support! And, than( you, Mary and the B!A!A who put in
all the miles "ehind the scenes! 3he runners, the olunteers, the spectators and the B!A!A
ma(e this race one of the world#s greatest eents!