The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon and is considered one of the most elite racing events. Held on Patriot’s Day each year in the city of Boston, not just anyone can run the race - one has to qualify. For Terrell ISD’s HVAC engineer, Kevin Green, who has been with the district for two years, the 2024 Boston Marathon will be his second time in a row to run the race.
Green began running in high school as a student at Canton ISD and was a member of the district’s state championship cross country team in 2000. After high school, Green began to suffer from severe depression and turned to alcohol. “I was struggling,” shared Green. “I was severely depressed and alcohol numbed my pain.”
After several years of struggling with alcoholism, Green hit rock bottom. “On September 15, 2014 I made the decision to change my life and walk in sobriety - I remember it like it was yesterday,” he said. Green has been sober ever since and will celebrate 10 years of sobriety this fall.
As part of his recovery, Green took up running again and shared that it made him feel alive. In total Green has run 36 half-marathons and 14 marathons and has traveled to places like California, Oklahoma, Montana and North Dakota to run.
On Monday, April 15, he will run in the 128th Boston Marathon. To qualify for this year’s marathon, runners in his age division needed a time of 3 hours and ten minutes. Last fall, Green submitted a time of 2:51:01 and was selected. He will join approximately 30,000 other runners on Monday - 22,000 qualifiers and 8,000 charity runners.
When he is not training for his own races, Green is also a running coach. Two years ago, he was approached by Fly Tri Racing and asked to be a coach. He picked up his first athlete in 2022 and has now trained ten runners including a 61 one year old who he helped to qualify for the Boston Marathon and a senior at Canton ISD who recently signed a track scholarship with Stephen F. Austin State University.
“Running keeps me alive,” shared Green. “It puts me on another level and gives me a sense of accomplishment. If my story can help change someone’s life and give them hope, then everything I have been through has been worth it.”