By Leighah Beausoleil
Contributing Writer
SOUTHBOROUGH — Sally Watters has never run the Boston Marathon herself, but the Southborough resident has been involved with the iconic race for the long haul.
Over the years, she has met runners from across the globe, raised money for important causes, and made life-long friends without ever crossing the finish line. Her upstairs closet is filled with 31 windbreakers, each representing a year she has volunteered with the Boston Athletic Association. The accompanying credentials hang like decorations.
Peace in the excitement
Watters, who always arrives in Hopkinton by 5 a.m. on marathon day, says she’s always amazed at how the small town transforms in mere hours as hundreds of volunteers and thousands of runners arrive for the legendary race.
“The spirit is very hard to define,” Watters said.
Though the morning tends to be “pretty chaotic,” she finds peace in the excitement that fills the atmosphere, and as a veteran volunteer, she knows precisely what to do.
When Watters first started out, she was assigned the simple task of handing out water. To this day, she’s unsure if it was a play on her last name. She was immediately hooked. A few years later, she took over as captain of the “corral monitors,” and that’s where she’ll be stationed this Marathon Monday on April 20.
In this role, Watters leads about 100 volunteers who help ensure all runners are in the correct grouping when the race begins. Despite working with the runners for so many years, she still finds herself tickled when asked, “Which direction is Boston?”
For Watters, the Boston Marathon has been a constant.
When she was first married, she lived on Main Street in Hopkinton, just west of the starting line. By the time her children were born, she was in Southborough, and the whole family would head to Ashland to catch a glimpse of the action.
Her passion was infectious and would eventually inspire her daughter, Amanda, to get into running. After a successful athletic career at Algonquin Regional High School, Amanda officially qualified for the marathon in college. She is now going onto her 22nd year running the race, while her husband is racing for the 25th time.
As a qualified runner, Amanda isn’t required to fundraise, but when a cousin’s daughter was in the hospital with a heart condition, she decided to begin raising money for her. Sadly, just before she turned 2 years old, the young girl lost her battle with the condition.
Despite the many years that have passed, Amanda has continued to raise money for the last 15 years to honor her memory.
Leading by example
Watters has a track record of inspiring other volunteers through her community involvement in town. For years, she’s served on the Open Land Foundation, volunteered at the polls, and has been on credential duty at Town Meeting. Throughout that time, she even convinced Southborough Town Clerk James Hegarty to volunteer at the marathon for a few years.
“People – once they start doing it, there’s something about it that is so rewarding,” she said, noting that Town Administrator Mark Purple was bitten by the marathon bug decades ago and is celebrating 30 years as a volunteer.
Watters remembers fondly hosting runners at her home, serving up a huge pasta dinner as they prepared for the big race the following day.
One of her favorite parts of the marathon is heading up to Boston for the annual expo, where she helps check runners in and hands out the bibs. Some runners arrive just after their planes land, pulling their luggage behind them. Some take pictures with her excitedly.
“It’s gratifying,” she said.
Looking back on her three decades of volunteerism, 2013 continues to stand out.
After finishing up her volunteer duties, she would typically head to Boston to meet up with her daughter, who was working at the time in a building located by the finish line. She was standing on Boylston Street as the bombs went off.
Watters helped lead two runners – a mother and son from Oklahoma City – across the Charles River to her friend’s apartment, where they stayed until they knew it was safe to leave.
“It used to be carefree – lots of fun,” she said. But in the aftermath, “It just changed the atmosphere.” Security became heightened. There were less “bandit runners” attempting to join the race unofficially.
After the tragedy of the bombings, some runners got together to complete a symbolic mile-long run to complete their journey. In a framed photograph hanging on Watters’ wall, Amanda can be seen carrying one of the four flags representing the lives lost.
“The sense of camaraderie is unbelievable,” Watters said. “Every time I think about not doing it, I really can’t imagine not being part of the incredible team that is putting this together.”
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