Boston Marathon a bucket-list race two Medicine Hat women will experience Monday

“We earned being there. So we’re not going to take the time too seriously.”

Runners need to qualify for the event based on their gender and age group, and both Shrives and St. Jacques reached the standard.

The race is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Shrives has attended the Chicago Marathon, which is also one of the seven majors.

“I did try once before to get into it [the Boston Marathon], but missed it by 20 seconds, and then I did the Chicago Marathon and qualified,” Shrives said.

“I got a decent time, but then I ran the Calgary Marathon to try and just improve my time on it. I got like a 10-minute buffer on the qualifying time for Boston in Calgary last year in May.”

She posted a personal best of three hours and 24 minutes.

St. Jacques qualification time was similar at three hours and 25 minutes at a marathon in 2024.

The pair have trained together for about two years after meeting by chance on a run in Medicine Hat when St. Jacques was training for her first marathon.

They say the partnership has made a significant difference.

“It makes the world of difference,” Shrives said.

“I trained for an ultra marathon by myself, and those distances, it’s no fun running 30 plus kilometres on your own, that’s for sure.”

St. Jacques says the two will be together most of the time while in Boston.

“It’s just going to be a really amazing experience. I haven’t done a major. I haven’t been to a big race like Chicago, so I don’t even really know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to just the whole vibe and taking it all in,” St. Jacques said.

Running a full marathon is just over 42.2 kilometres and will be a test of endurance.

It’s a distance St. Jacques has run once before during a marathon in Victoria in 2024.

“That’s the race I qualified in. I can’t say it was really on my radar to run in Boston, but when I started running and training for Victoria, I was like, you know what, maybe I can do this,” St. Jacques said.

“I trained with Heloise, and she made me run my butt off,” she added.

“Then I ended up qualifying, and now I’m running a second marathon.”

St. Jacques says they do get near the same distance while training.

“We get close, high to mid-thirties, but not quite the full distance, and not at that pace either,” St. Jacques said.

She adds that she has run for most of her life.

“I’ve always run, since I was in high school, but I’ve been pretty into sports and fitness. I’ve done quite a few half marathons and trail races,” St. Jacques said.

“I never really thought I would run a marathon. I just kind of decided to take the plunge.”

Both runners say preparing for a marathon requires months of consistent training, often involving early mornings, long runs and careful attention to nutrition.

St. Jacques says that while running, she will eat something every 45 minutes.

“You’re having a gel or some sort of nutrition. Like we use the wafers and just try it, try many different things and see what works,” St. Jacques said.

“Then you also have a carb drink that you drink the entire time you’re running to replenish the calories that you’re losing,” she added.

“You’re replenishing as you’re going, and you have to keep fueling or else you just hit a wall.”

Shrives says time on your legs is important when preparing for a marathon.

“Depending on your goals, you do a bit of speed work, a bit of heel work,” Shrives said.

“If you can run miles, and just at a slower pace, it’s really just time on your legs. I think running in Canada mentally prepares you for anything with the weather we have.”

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Shrives and St. Jacques running during cold conditions in Medicine Hat. (Image Credit: Submitted Photo)

Shrives says the race has long been a goal.

“When I started doing marathons, the world majors were always in the back of my mind,” Shrives said.

Shrives has been running half marathons for most of her adult life and has completed the Comrades Marathon in South Africa twice, a 90-kilometre run.

She will tackle a few more Majors races in 2026, in Australia and Germany.

The Sydney Marathon is on Aug. 30, and the Berlin Marathon is Sept. 27.

Both runners travelled to Boston over the weekend.

There will be three Medicine Hat runners participating, as Corry Leduc also qualified in the men’s division through his training method of running with dogs.

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READ: Medicine Hat runner qualifies for Boston Marathon with help from dog-powered training (April 14, 2026)

by Jesse Gill

Boston Marathon a bucket-list race two Medicine Hat women will experience Monday

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