Almost 30,000 athletes from around the world and took part in this year's Boston Marathon. That included Kat Morrissey from Wilbraham, Massachusetts, who qualified to start the marathon shortly after the fastest runners.
Morrissey's time on the course was two hours, 40 minutes and 19 seconds. Her goal, she said, was to trim 38 seconds off her last Boston Marathon time. She ended up shaving off more than five minutes.
"Five minutes is a really huge amount of time to drop in running," Morrissey said. "Kind of unbelievable because in running, that feels like forever."
Morrissey said after the run, she was hungry, a bit tired — and elated. Whatever time it takes for athletes to complete the marathon, Morrissey said 26.2 miles is not easy for anyone.
"I think especially watching some of the people that are a little more in the back of the pack is more inspiring," Morrissey said, "because they're out there for a long time and they trained just as hard as everyone else."
With this marathon Morrissey said she hopes to qualify for the Olympic trials in 2024.