Shannon and her husband flew in a couple of days early, joining the other runners for a fitness expo before the marathon on Monday. The longest training runs Shannon did were two 20-milers, a little more than six miles short of what she’d run in Boston. The weeks flew by and before she knew it, she was boarding a plane to Boston. She’d run five days a week with four shorter runs and one long run. When Shannon found out she’d get to run in Boston, she began an 18-week training plan, at her peak training running between 45 and 50 miles every week. They start with qualifiers who have the fastest time, filtering down to the slowest qualifying time. Only 30,251 runners can register every year.

Runners in her age category must complete the run in three hours and 45 minutes or less in order to qualify. Qualifying doesn’t guarantee you a spot in the marathon.

“I was ecstatic to qualify, but didn’t really know if I’d get lucky enough to run in Boston,” Shannon said. Then last September she ran the Sioux Falls marathon, where she qualified for Boston. Two more kids followed before Shannon got back to running marathons. At 29 she completed Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth and did it three more times before her first child came along. Her goal was to run a marathon before she turned 30. “Boston eventually became a bucket list item for me, but I had to work toward it.

As motivation I signed up for a race being held in Willmar, and I fell in love with it,” Shannon said. “I started running in my late twenties as a way to get a little more exercise. She’s one of only 10 percent of all marathoners who will ever get to compete in this prestigious race. When OB-GYN nurse practitioner Shannon Elton first began running, she never dreamed she’d be one of the 27,165 runners at the 2015 Boston Marathon. Imagine running through the streets of Boston as crowds cheer you on and after 26.2 miles you cross the finish line, victorious and proud. It’s the stuff dreams are made of-a runner’s dream at least.

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