North Shore residents race to the finish line at the Boston Marathon

Evanston’s Sharon Hermes was one of nearly 30,000 runners in the 2023 Boston Marathon, crossing the finish line with a time of 3:39:01.

At the outset, that may not sound distinctive, but Hermes spoke of her participation as a testament to determination and overcoming barriers.

“If you are working toward something and it doesn’t go quite how you expected, just have patience and keep at it, and it will be worth it when it happens,” she said. “It will be that much sweeter.”

Hermes, 45, was one of many North Shore participants in the April 17 Boston Marathon, the iconic race that draws runners from all over the world. The race had special meaning for Hermes representing a dream placed that had to be stored away for three years as she qualified for the 2020 race that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Circumstances didn’t allow her to qualify again until 2023, but on that wet Monday, Hermes took on the iconic course.

“I was so glad to get there at the end. I could not have been any more excited,” she recalled. “It was thrilling to be out there. It just felt surreal and overjoyed to be part of it.”

As she ran the 26 plus miles, Hermes marveled at the tradition of the race and the spectators.

“It was buzzing with excitement,” Hermes said. “The course is like no other. It is so unique.”

Another Boston Marathon rookie was Wilmette native and North Shore Country Day School graduate Emma Flannery.

Now living in Los Angeles pursuing a career in the entertainment industry, Flannery said her interest in racing began at the age of 16 when she would run on the Green Bay Trail, often in cold conditions.

“I absolutely fell in love,” she said.

Like Hermes, Flannery loved the energy she saw throughout Boston in the race that she completed in 3:37:16.

“The city is absolutely decked out,” she said. “Every single Italian pasta restaurant is full the night before which is hilarious.”

As she was on the course, Flannery noticed how every corner was packed and her favorite moment was passing by students of both Wellesley and Boston Colleges.

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“I just felt a lot of overwhelming gratitude,” Flannery added. “I feel very grateful that I am healthy and I am able to participate in something like a marathon.”

For Winnetka’s Paul Weaver, 60, this was his third Boston Marathon, made even more special this year as both he and his daughter, Eliza, both qualified for the race.

Like the rookies, Weaver, a retired executive, adores the crowd.

“The people really come out and support you,” he said. “People are screaming from start to finish.”

He talked about the training race requires, pointing to 18-20 weeks of preparation ahead of the marathon and his 3:28:24 finish.

“If any walkers are out on the Green Bay Trail at 6 a.m. they probably saw me a lot this winter,” he said.

Weaver concedes the training is difficult at times, but he is a member of some running clubs, enjoying the camaraderie.

“Part of the fun of all this is training with the running groups out here,” he said. “A lot of us were going six days a week.”

Another local running club member is Wilmette’s Matthew Gilson, 58, who finished his sixth marathon in Boston.

Gilson, a freelance photographer, brought his veteran perspective as he took on the hilly terrain on his way to a time of 3:36.09.

“Course memory really helps,” he said. “It is a challenging race because you have to respect the different sections.”

A common denominator for all of the runners was the 10th anniversary of the bombing at the 2013 Marathon where three people were killed and hundreds injured.

Evanston’s Nancy Rollins, participating in her fifteenth Boston Marathon overall said she wasn’t that far away when the bombs off.

A decade later Rollins spoke of what the race now means to her.

” (The marathon) represents something so positive so when evil strikes, the positive wins out,” she said. “The spirit is very strong that way.”

Flannery, an eighth grade student in 2013, also connected her participation to the bombing.

“It was very nice to be a part of it especially with everything the country has been through the last five to six years,” she said. “It felt really important to be there for something like that.”

After the local runners crossed the finish line on Boston’s Boylston Street, it was time to reflect on both the present and the future.

“On that last stretch down Boylston, I almost wished it was longer,” Hermes remembered. “It was so amazing to feel the energy. I was very tired but I was thrilled that it happened.”

Flannery said she cried when she was done.

“You remember how many people there are supporting you,” she said. “It is also emotional to remember how much the human body is capable of and a reminder to me what I am capable of when I put in the time and effort and the work.”

Gilson said he runs in two marathons a year, he might cut that back to one and is undecided about the famed race in Boston, but he still loves it.

“I don’t need to do this anymore,” he said. “I am not proving anything to anybody. But it is such a fun race and it is so great to be in Boston for it because everyone there is a running enthusiast. Boston is special.”

Rollins, 76, who has won her age group at the Boston Marathon several times, finished the 2023 race with a time of 4:28.06.

She still does two marathons a year but is now getting more tired and she said this fall’s Chicago Marathon might be her final one.

That thought was on her mind as she raced through Boston while at the same time wishing the weather had been better at the race where she met her husband in 1982.

“I was very conscious during the race noticing all the towns we go through and the people and the different hills and challenges,” she said. “You just feel a great sense of accomplishment when you run the Boston Marathon. It is very satisfying. Sometimes you just know it is time to say goodbye to something. That is what I felt, a closure.”

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Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.