Meet our 2023 Boston Marathon® Runners!

I chose to run for Spoonfuls because over the past three years [working] at Toast, a Spoonfuls’ supporter, I’ve been able to see the major impact financial donations make on providing food to communities in Massachusetts. I’ve also been able to volunteer with a few different Spoonfuls’ nonprofit partners. I’m lucky to say I’ve seen the direct impact of Spoonfuls’ work here in Boston. 

I recently ran the Chicago Marathon, so I’m coming off five months of training. Having a base has been amazing, but now I’m really focused on how to feel stronger, faster, and overall more confident as a runner.

I have two great routes that take me through different parts of Boston. The first leads me through Seaport, Southie, Dorchester, and Quincy, and the second takes me from Seaport to the North End, to the Esplanade, and all the way towards the Fenway Park/Brookline area! 

I love to go grocery shopping same-day for the meals I cook in the evening. By doing this, I don’t end up over-buying, and it makes it easier to avoid excess when cooking for one or two people!

I found out about Spoonfuls from a good friend who is a restaurant architect in the Boston area. Though he works ridiculously long hours and weeks, he always finds time to come out to events and support the work Spoonfuls does. His support led me to the organization, but their work is what sold me on wanting to help as well, even though I live on the other side of the country. I’m a community college professor and constantly have students who are food insecure in my classes. A student that is hungry or unsure of where their next meal is coming from can not do well academically. It might sound cliche, but today’s college students are tomorrow’s leaders and change agents. We need them at their best now, so that they have the skills needed to excel in the future, and that starts with being housing- and food-secure.

I recently stepped up my marathon training. In November, I ran a Ragnar Trail Relay, so my training was mainly focused on trails and hill repeats. With that in the rearview, I’ve slowly started building up my mileage on roads again. So far so good! This 44-year-old body is holding up. Boston will be my sixth marathon, and I feel I’m further along in my training than I was for any of the previous ones.

I’ve only run in Massachusetts once, for the Baystate Marathon. There was some beautiful scenery, but it’s got nothing on running along the Pacific Coast in Carlsbad, California.

I’m the cook in the family. Not only do I cook from scratch, but at least once a week, we have our blue plate special night. This is when we pull out the leftovers from the previous couple of meals, and I either serve them as-is or try to incorporate them into a new dish.
 
Also, to cut back on waste, I visit the local store at least once or twice a week to pick up fresh produce and other perishables. I only purchase what we are going to use quickly, and I don’t restock anything until the original purchase is eaten.

I first learned about Spoonfuls through my Jewish community and temple. Spoonfuls was founded by a congregant, which makes me very proud! 

In my Jewish culture and tradition, food is not only a source of sustenance, but a spiritual blessing that nourishes the body, soul, and mind, and connects us to other people and to the earth. We are taught to extend food as an offer of love, and we are also taught not to waste. Personally, I feel that Spoonfuls helps me to act on all of these values – appreciating the bounty we have, wasting less, feeding those who are hungry, and taking care of our planet. Plus food rescue has a major impact on the health of our environment and economy!

I’ve run many shorter races and, several years ago, I ran the Boston Athletic Association (BAA)Half Marathon in support of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This will be my first marathon! Running a full marathon has been a longtime dream of mine, and I’m so excited to train for a purpose and accomplish this dream with Spoonfuls. 
 
So far, training has been going great! Thankfully, I have been able to stay right on track with meeting the miles for my long runs. I just worked up to 10 – 11 miles. I’m a little nervous about adding repeat high-intensity hill runs, but I hope to tackle one hill at a time.

My favorite local place to run is Cutler Park in Needham. It’s a wide, soft, gorgeous trail that makes a 1.5-mile loop around a lake. I can get lost away from the traffic and often see a lot of wildlife, too.

I am a big planner. I find that meal planning really helps when it comes to wasting less food. This way, we know what we will be eating each day, and we will end up purchasing less. We try to eat all of our leftovers before we meal plan and go to the grocery store for the next week’s meals. I also try to teach my young children to enjoy leftovers, but sometimes that doesn’t work!