The 121st Boston Marathon took place last week with nine RCSI students competing in this most prestigious road race.

Boston is the oldest marathon and this year's field comprised of over 32,000 runners. RCSI's participation in the event is facilitated by Dr John V. Coyle (RCSI Class of ‘62) a serving member of the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) and recipient of the 2002 RCSI Distinguished Graduates Award. 

The 2017 Boston Marathon Team comprised of Niamh Clifford, Megan Wilson, Samantha Steinmetz-Wood, Aoife Bourke, Aoife Adelaide Gordon, Elsbeth Wolfe, Kevin Armstrong, Ruadhan O'Laoi and Eoin Edward Murphy.

Dr Coyle organised tickets for the team to the world premiere of ‘Boston’, a feature-length documentary about the marathon accompanied by the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra who performed the full score live at the Boch Center’s Wang Theatre. This once in a lifetime event wowed the audience. The students got to meet the Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, first official female competitor, Kathrine Switzer and Roberta Louise ‘Bobbi’ Gibb, pictured below, the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon to name but a few.

Marathon Monday, Patriots Day, was a beautiful sunny day, spectators lined the race course the entirety of the 26.2 miles and the spirit of ‘Boston Strong’ flooded the air.

First to cross the finish line for team RCSI was Eoin Murphy, with an impressive finish time of 3:08.