Boston had been waiting for its world-famous marathon to come back since 2019. The morning of the competition, there was a crowd standing by ready to cheer on the runners and their loved ones. Golf coach Jason Watson and his wife were among the crowd with their shoes laced and ready to race.

“The course experience and the crowds were fantastic,” Watson said. “Boston was glad to have their marathon back after a long layoff from COVID. It was a very electric atmosphere.”

After taking the bus to Hopkinton State Park for the start, Watson and his wife were lined up and ready to run. Watson crossed the start line at 9:08 a.m.

“My first goal was to finish and the second goal was to break three hours which I did once before and on a perfect day,” Watson said. 

He knew it would not be easy on the course set up in Boston, however.

“It was a very hilly course, we don’t have a lot of hills to train on here,” Watson said. “I think we went three or four times to drive and find some hills but it’s a very hilly and very difficult course. I guess that’s how it’s different from every marathon I’ve done.”

Originally, Watson started running to lose weight because he struggled with back and knee pain. After he started running, he realized he was losing weight and as a result the pain stopped hurting. After about two to three years of running, he decided to run in his first marathon and the rest is history.

This year’s Boston Marathon was his 8th marathon. He finished in a time of 2:56.27.

“I set a personal best,” he said. “It’s the fastest I have ever run a marathon which at 46 years old, I’m pretty happy with.”