Boston Marathon Report: Val and David Duggan

High Point runners Val and David Duggan talk about their experience at the Boston Marathon. Watch the video above, or read their report here:

Val Duggan

Residence

High Point

Age

45

Finishing time

4:13:16

How she qualified

3:26 at California International Marathon in 2019

Boston experience

Third Boston Marathon

Marathon experience

19th marathon

David Duggan

Residence

High Point

Age

54

Finishing time

4:13:16

How he qualified

3:08 at 2018 Philadelphia Marathon

Boston experience

Eighth Boston Marathon

Marathon experience

24th marathon

How it went

Val: "We finished."

David: "Thank God."

Val: "It was fun. Overall, Boston is an amazing experience. It was great."

David: "This was just to finish. There was no time goal. I've been hurt. Val has been hurt. It was the 125th. Even up until probably Friday, I was second-guessing whether I should come or not."

Val: "We made it."

David: "I was going, 'You know what? Suck it up.' And if I had to walk, I had to walk."

Val: "We did walk some."

David: "Probably walked about five miles total. I did the Jeff Galloway method: Run a bit, walk a bit; run a bit, walk a bit."

Those Boston Marathon moments

Val: "They did a fantastic job; oh my goodness. They did a fabulous job there. They do such a great job organizing it, all the the volunteers, the law enforcement, everyone in Boston that comes together to make this event happen is amazing. They make it an amazing experience. Everybody's into it. The spectators. There's nothing like it. They did an incredible job. It was a smaller field, but the energy was still there. They made it work very smoothly, all of it."

David: “It's officially my sixth Boston Marathon and unofficially my eighth Boston Marathon. It's probably the only marathon I've done more than two times. The atmosphere is unbelievable for all 26 miles. You take the right on Hereford, left on Boylston, and the crowd is just 10 deep all the way down.”

Val: “It's incredible. There's nothing like it.”

How they celebrated

David: “Hobbled back to the hotel, took a hot bath, and then went drinking.”

Val: “Met up with some fellow Triad runners.”

David: “Gabby (DeLay) and Molly (Nunn). We met up with them for a few beers, hung out."

Val: “Had dinner.”

David: “It’s been fun.”

Val: “It's been fun to see people from home up here. That's been the best part.”