247. Mary Kate Shea, John Hancock Senior Director of Endurance Marketing & 23-Time Boston Marathon Finisher
Ali on the Run Show
Ali Feller
4.9 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2020
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
"There is nothing we will not do for this team."
Mary Kate Shea — or "MK," as she's known to the fastest marathoners in the world — is the senior director of endurance marketing for John Hancock, the title sponsor of the Boston Marathon. Every year, it's Mary Kate's job to woo, recruit, and get the best distance runners to come run the historic Boston Marathon. On this episode — which we recorded at the beginning of May, before the 2020 race had been officially canceled — Mary Kate talks about how, exactly, she puts together the 50-person pro field every year. She talks about the first thing she said to Desiree Linden after Des won the 2018 race, explains what she says is the most stressful part of her job and her entire year, and shares lots of stories about everyone's favorite elites. But don't think Mary Kate is just watching this race from the media center: She says the fastest way from Hopkinton back to Boston is by foot, which is why, after she checks the elites in and gets them on their way, she joins the second wave of runners and runs the marathon herself. MK is a 23-time Boston Marathon finisher, she's run ultramarathons including 100-milers, and she's a mom of four. Superwoman, indeed.
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What you'll get on this episode:
- What Marathon Monday is like every year for Mary Kate (8:00)
- MK's "Day in the Life" on Marathon Monday (15:40)
- What makes Marathon Monday a success? (31:10)
- How the recruiting process works (37:00)
- Which runners are on MK's "Boston wish list?" (44:40)
- What it means to be a "technical expert" at major marathons (49:55)
- How MK got her job (51:40)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode of The Alley on the Run Show is brought to you by Aftershocks. |
| 0:04.1 | Go to ontherun.aftershocks.com to save 15% on all wireless headphones. |
| 0:14.1 | Welcome to The Alley on the Run Show. I'm your host Allie Theller and every week I talk with |
| 0:18.9 | inspiring people who lead interesting lives on the run and beyond. And while running is that |
| 0:24.5 | thing that brings us all together on these episodes, we cover more than what happens on the run. |
| 0:29.4 | We learn the wise behind the runs. The decisions people have made to get where they are today and how |
| 0:34.7 | getting sweaty has factored in. Now it is no secret here on The Alley on the Run Show that I love |
| 0:41.6 | learning about all the behind the scenes stuff when it comes to our favorite races. |
| 0:46.2 | From race directors to onsite staff to AIDS station volunteers, I want to know about it all. |
| 0:52.6 | So on what should have been the 124th running of this year's Boston Marathon back in April, |
| 0:59.8 | I got to thinking about one person's job in particular. Mary Kate Shea. |
| 1:05.3 | Mary Kate or MK as the elites call her is the senior director of sports marketing and sponsorship |
| 1:11.0 | for John Hancock. Or in short, she's the person responsible for getting the pros to run Boston. |
| 1:17.0 | It's her job to not only woo or recruit them to commit to running the Boston Marathon, |
| 1:21.9 | it's also her job to physically check them in the day of the race, to take the bus out to hop |
| 1:26.6 | continue with them in the morning and then to escort them to the front of the pack to start their race. |
| 1:32.3 | But MK's day does not end there. According to her, the fastest and most direct way back to Boston is on |
| 1:39.5 | foot. That's why she's a 23 time Boston marathon runner herself. They loved hearing about what a |
| 1:46.5 | typical marathon Monday is like for her. MK is an amazing storyteller and at the time we talked |
| 1:53.2 | the fate of the 2020 Boston Marathon was still up in the air as of then. It had been rescheduled |
| 1:59.7 | from April to September 14th, but just last week the Boston Athletic Association announced that the |
| 2:05.6 | 2020 Boston Marathon was officially canceled or at least the in-person running of the race was not |
... |
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