Duffey, who had participated in her first race three years earlier, decided to organize an impromptu group run at the C.J. Brown Reservoir to honor those who had been killed and injured.
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“It really rocked my world because to me and most runners Boston is the mecca and the greatest marathon in the world,” she said.
Four years later, Duffey will be participating in the 121st running of the Boston Marathon on April 17, an accomplishment that took 10 marathons to achieve.
In 2015, Duffey completed a marathon in Columbus in 3 hours and 36 minutes to qualify for this year’s event.
“I’ve never worked harder for anything in my life than to qualify for Boston,” she said. “Many days, I had to get up at 3:45 in the morning to run 10-12 hard miles in the dark before a full day of work.”
Running didn’t evolve into a passion until later in her life, Duffey said. After running on and off since high school, she decided to take running more seriously after completing her first half marathon back in 2010.
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Two years later, after participating in a few more half-marathons, she completed her first whole marathon in Utah, an experience that solidified her passion for the sport.
“After I ran my first half-marathon I thought, ‘Man, how can anyone ever run a whole marathon, that is just crazy’,” she said. “I absolutely loved it and knew that I found something that was very awesome for me.”
Duffey first attempted to qualify for the Boston Marathon at a race in Indianapolis in 2014, but missed the qualifying time by three minutes. That experience gave her a much needed push that helped her qualify the following year.
“I realized that I not only loved running, but I could push myself,” she said.
She couldn’t have qualified for Boston without her fellow runners in Springfield, Duffey said.
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Springfield has a tight-knit community of runners, said Duffey’s friend Alix Payton, a longtime runner and local triathlete.
“You can always find somebody to run with,” she said.
Payton, a two-time Boston Marathon participant, has watched Duffey grow as a runner and is proud of her progress.
“Lisa has come from a beginner runner not knowing really how to train to a very experienced runner in the past four to five years,” she said.
Now in the peak stages of her training, Duffey is running 50-60 miles per week. Her goal is to simply finish the race, she said.
“I want to finish and do well, but I’m not running for a certain time,” Duffey said.
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