Meet Ashland’s Marathon Runners

The daffodils are up. The weather has moderated. And, oh yes, it’s Boston Marathon time. Soon, the roads leading away from the Hopkinton starting line will be clogged with thousands of walkers, wheel chairs and runners from here, there and everywhere. In fact, runners from 50 states and 94 countries are registered this year. Jamming the road sides will be multitudes of cheering supporters.
Among our Ashland runners are:
Jessica Popik, 30
On an unseasonably warm February day, I met Jessica Popik on her morning run. She is an entrant in this year’s Boston Marathon by way of winning the Seekonk Black Goose Marathon in 3 hours, 24 minutes.
“I was inspired by my dad because I always wanted to do the things he did,” she said. “He ran the 100th Boston Marathon, and if he could do it, I could, too.” This is her 15th.
Popik runs at least six times each week, carbo loads with sports drinks, and when asked her thoughts while running, she laughed, “I count cars. I count trees.”
Although Popik runs solo, she has the support of her mom cheering her on close to the finish line. That encouragement will be necessary since Popik said the marathon is physically and emotionally challenging; the first four miles are downhill and require pacing. She said with confidence she intends to finish at 3 hours 15 minutes.
Kimberly Connor, 32
This Ashland resident and Mindess School 3rd grade teacher Kimberly Connor is running her first marathon and said with enthusiasm, “I am so excited. I run for a lot of reasons. My dad was a runner. There weren’t a lot of girls playing sports when I was 12 so I ran track. Later, when I was in high school, I started the first girls’ cross country race team.” Connor credits her passion for running to her coach Bill Cunis.
As might be expected, Connor said her students will be at mile 3 to cheer her on. Her mother will be at the finish line, around 4 hours and 45 minutes later. Connor stated, “The goal is to finish.”
“I try not to think about the miles so I listen to music. It’s an old-school play list,” Connor confessed without revealing the artists. As for her pre-race diet? “I love spaghetti.”
Stacy Kaiser, 29
Ashland police officer and another first-time marathon runner, Stacy Kaiser has reasons to run. “I’m the kind of person who likes to give back and assist people in any way I can.”
Her rationale is personal. She supports and runs for the Heather Abbott Foundation, which supplies prosthetics to those who have lost limbs. Kaiser met Abbott who lost a leg in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. They met when Kaiser’s parents supplied the flooring for Abbott’s handicap-accessible home.
Kaiser is running with her sister, Jodi, the inspiration for this first marathon. While never having run 26 miles before, she revealed she and her sister recently ran a Super Hero 17-mile effort; Kaiser as Optimus Prime and sister as transformer, Bumblebee.
Les Clark, who believes running is for others, can be reached at lclark9247@aol.com.