‘Less than One Percent of the World’s Population Has Run a Marathon’

I was the men’s swimming coach for 33 years, and I’ve been coaching the Tufts Marathon Team since 2004. I’d tell recruits: The best thing that’s happened to me is that I’ve been an usher at 10 weddings and become godfather to seven children of my former athletes. You see all these cards and photos in my office? I say to my swimmers and runners, “If you can help someone else get what they want in life, they will reward you with things you can’t even imagine.”

We’ve had 2,500 runners in the Boston Marathon since 2005. Today, John Hancock gives us 50 bibs a year. We have 25 spots for seniors and grad students, and 25 for faculty, staff, parents, friends and alumni—who fly in from as far as Australia, India, and Singapore—and in total, we raise about $500,000 for charity.

We do two training runs each week, and then four times before the marathon, we’ll do a long run between 12 and 20 miles, going from Boston College to Wellesley. We run in all kinds of weather, from rain to snow to wind. I joke that we even run when it’s nice out—though we hope Marathon Monday won’t be too hot or sunny. That morning, I meet parents at 6:30, and we take a couple yellow buses to Mile 9 to cheer.

Less than one percent of the world’s population has run a marathon, so when my runners talk to other runners, there’s an immediate connection. When they finish it, their sense of accomplishment is just extraordinary. They can go on to do anything they want. One runner took 10 hours and 10 minutes to finish it one year. We were able to find a medal for her at the finish line. Another year, a kid told me he couldn’t run the whole thing. I told him, “Every mile there’s a water stop. You just have to run from each water stop to the next water stop.” And he finished it.

Every September, a new group comes together, becomes lifelong friends, and I’m just there, smiling the whole way.

Coach Don Megerle served as head coach of Tufts swimming from 1971 to 2004, when he became director of the Tufts Marathon Team.

Our Tufts is a series of personal stories shared by members of the Tufts community and featured on both Tufts Now and Instagram.