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A former Patriot and a Broadway star were among those who ran the Boston Marathon

By Amanda Kaufman Globe Staff,Updated October 11, 2021, 2:16 p.m.
Wellesley College students reached out to the runners at the Boston Marathon.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff

Marathon Monday is here — finally.

Cancellations of the race due to COVID-19 provided runners with plenty of time to mull over whether they wanted to join this time, and a number of recognizable names will be hitting the 26.2-mile course to get in on the action.

Here’s a look at notable people who are running this year’s marathon. All race times listed are according to the BAA.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, 4:58:54

Deb Haaland, the US interior secretary and former New Mexico representative, ran the Boston Marathon.

In an op-ed for the Boston Globe, Haaland said she was running the race, which she noted is taking place on Indigenous People’s Day, in a tribute to “missing and murdered Indigenous peoples and their families, the victims of Indian boarding schools, and the promise that our voices are being heard and will have a part in an equitable and just future in this new era.”

Massachusetts Representative Katherine Clark stopped to chat with Haaland at Mile 17 of the race and posted photos of their encounter to Twitter.

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Andrew Kaczynski, 4:07:25

Andrew Kaczynski hit the 26.2-mile course for a worthy cause that hits close to home for the CNN reporter.

Kaczynski, whose daughter Francesca died of cancer in December 2020 before her first birthday, is running the marathon in a tribute to children who have been diagnosed with the disease, and is raising money for cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Kaczynski and his family moved to Boston for Francesca’s treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital, and in an online fundraising appeal noted the indelible mark the city left on the family, and the kindness they were shown during that devastating time.

“The kindness of the people in Boston – the struggling restaurant in Fenway Park that gave us a free meal when they learned our daughter had cancer, the nurses who were by our side while Francesca died. We will never, ever forget the good people who were there for us in our darkest moments,” the fundraising site reads.

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As of late Monday morning, Kaczynski had raised more than $213,000 — exceeding his initial goal.

Troy Hoyt, 3:57:06

Troy Hoyt, grandson of the late Dick Hoyt who was an icon of the Boston Marathon for decades, ran his first marathon in honor of his late grandfather.

Dick Hoyt pushed his son, Rick, in 32 Boston marathons. Rick announced last week that he would be retiring from the race due to health issues.

In an interview with WBZ on Monday morning, Russell Hoyt, Dick’s son, said that while Rick wasn’t able to be there in person, he was there “in spirit.”

Troy said during the interview that he would be running the race in honor of his late grandfather.

“I miss him a lot, but I’m happy I can be here today to run this in his honor because I know it’s what he would have wanted,” Troy said. “I don’t have words it’s just so exciting to be here and be able to run my first marathon in his honor.”

Related: Troy Hoyt carried on the legacy of grandfather Dick and uncle Rick by running the 2021 Boston Marathon

Troy reflected on what it was like to watch the two compete in the marathon together.

“Seeing them come down the finish line to see it you just get chills down your spine,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, go team Hoyt! Yeah, I know them!’ It’s just great what they do and it’s just great.”

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Tatyana McFadden, 1:50:20

Tatyana McFadden, a five-time winner of the Boston Marathon’s women’s wheelchair division, finished second in the contest this year, one day after taking the top spot in Chicago’s marathon.

McFadden, a decorated athlete who has competed in contests around the world, said in an interview with WBZ that two marathons in 24 hours was “tough,” and that she plans to return to Boston at some point to win again.

“It was tough,” McFadden said. “I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea. 52.4 miles in 24 hours. But I felt Boston strong today. The energy was just incredible throughout the whole course. Mile 20 was pretty hard, but I’ll come back and I’ll win this race again, but this was quite a challenge. The only elite female athlete to do it, I was up for it, so I’m pretty happy with second today. I cannot complain. It was tough.”

Shalane Flanagan, 2:40:34

Shalane Flanagan, an accomplished long-distanced runner, returned to her hometown to complete the Boston Marathon, one of six stops on her quest to compete in the world’s major marathons this year.

Flanagan, a Marblehead native, took to the course after she finished the Chicago Marathon the day earlier. She appears to have edged out her 2:46:39 finishing time in Chicago by just a few minutes in Boston, coming in at 2:40:34.

Flanagan on Instagram noted the significance of returning to her hometown to compete, saying she was returning to the “very place that raised me.”

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“Today, I am home,” Flanagan wrote. “Back in the very place that raised me. Back to the streets where I watched my father run the Boston Marathon as a little girl. Back to where running changed my life. I played a lot of sports growing up in Boston, but there was nothing quite like running. I don’t know if it was the sense of accomplishment it gave me, or the energy it was surrounded with, or if it was simply cheering on my Dad all those Monday’s in April….but what I do know, is that running gave me a future.”

Citing the gender disparity in youth sports, Flanagan added that the illustrations on her marathon kit —her “runway look,” as she called it — were made by girls at the Marathon Kids Run Club in Austin, Texas.

“I am honored to have the extra strength and girl power from their beautiful illustrations on my kit for race day!” she wrote.

Brian d’Arcy James, 3:30:22

Tony-nominated actor Brian d’Arcy James finished his first Boston Marathon on Monday.

James — whose name you may recognize from his portrayal of a Boston Globe reporter in the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” — spoke to WBZ after finishing the race.

“You can tell I’m a good actor because right now I really want to throw up, but I’m not going to,” James said.

James told the Globe last week that Monday’s race was his fourth marathon, but his first time competing in the contest in Boston.

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“For me, with COVID, with the state of the world, with wanting to have a literal kind of stepping out into the world, doing something that makes you feel like you can face a challenge and overcome it, it’s a metaphor appropriate for where we are in the world,” James said.

James Develin, 4:27:17

The former Patriots fullback James Develin added another athletic feat to his resume.

Develin, who announced he was retiring from football in April 2020 due to “unforeseen complications” from a neck injury, is running the race for the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, which is dedicated to funding pediatric brain cancer research and providing financial assistance to patients and their families.

Before training for the marathon and a 10-mile race in New Jersey over the summer, Develin told the Globe that he had never run more than 2 or 3 miles on his own.

“Being 250 pounds, you’re not exactly built for distance,” he said.

His preparations for the race included waking up before dawn to train, listening to audiobooks or music from artists such as Blink 182 and Eminem as he ran.

Develin was spotted in Natick making his way through the course, flashing a thumbs-up as he ran, according to a video posted to the Patriots’ Twitter page.

Danica Patrick, 4:01:21

Danica Patrick is back to racing. But this time, it’s on foot.

Patrick completed the race in 4:01:21, according to the BAA’s runner tracker.

Steve Buckley, a reporter for The Athletic, posted a photo to Twitter of Patrick after the race near the Back Bay finish line.

Patrick told Boston.com in an interview last week that she has always wanted to run a marathon, and was participating in the event to challenge herself. She ran for the Light Foundation, which was started by former Patriots player Matt Light and his wife Susie to empower young people to lead active lives.

“It’s a really big physical and mental challenge, and I like challenges,” Patrick said. “It’s my only bucket list item, so here we go. I can die after October 11.”

In an interview with WBZ after the race, Patrick, who ran alongside her sister Brooke, said running the 26.2-mile course felt “really good.”

The best part was the signs, she said, adding they were “really funny.” And she has a new nickname for the stretch of the race at the 20-mile mark known as Heartbreak Hill: Home-free hill.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Patrick said. “Maybe people are going to crucify me for saying that.”

Related: Check out some of the best signs from the 2021 Boston Marathon

Running a marathon is certainly different from steering a race car at 200 miles per hour, Patrick added. But there are also similarities.

“I don’t need my legs much in a car. I need my upper body, so it’s a complete flip-flop of body,” Patrick told WBZ. “But one of the reasons why the only thing on my bucket list is to do a marathon is because — well, it’s hard, I found out that I like to do hard things — and I also kind of felt like I had the cardio for it because our races, if you watch races now you’ll see they’re putting heart rate monitors on drivers. And drivers are anywhere from 100 to 150 beats per minute or maybe a little bit more, so I kind of knew I was doing marathons every weekend.”

Senator Kyrsten Sinema

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who has made headlines recently for being one of two Democrats to hold up President Biden’s major social spending bill, was reported to have qualified to run the marathon.

As news spread of her possible participation in the race, liberal activist groups said they planned to confront Sinema during the marathon over her position on the $3.5 trillion spending bill being considered in Congress.

The Green New Deal Network, a coalition of 15 national organizations, said in a statement that activists plan on “birddogging” her.

Sinema’s position on the course could not be found through a search on the Boston Athletic Association’s website. A message sent to her office was not immediately returned.

Tara Sullivan and Nicole Yang of the Globe staff, Globe correspondent Breanna Kovatch, and Boston.com correspondent Zipporah Osei contributed to this report.

Amanda Kaufman can be reached at amanda.kaufman@globe.com. Follow her @amandakauf1.

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