A lifelong athlete who played club lacrosse at Boston University, Marblehead resident AnneMette Bontaites figured that, by the time she turned 40, she would have added a marathon finisher’s medal to her trophy case
After that milestone came and went, one of Bontaites’ friends convinced her that it was not too late. They set their sights on the 2014 New York Marathon.
Still, even if they were able to get runner’s bibs — which they did — Bontaites figured she would be “one and done” as a marathoner.
How wrong she was.
Last month, after she crossed the finish line at the Tokyo Marathon, Bontaites was handed a Six Star Medal, signifying her completion of the entire Abbott World Marathon Majors circuit. If that were not enough, Bontaites’ running shoes have taken her not only to London, Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Boston for the six majors, but to Paris, Florence, Italy, and Copenhagen in her native Denmark, along the way, Bontaites got more serious about her performance, partially out of necessity. Marathoners generally gain entry into races one of two ways: by latching onto certain charitable causes and meeting fundraising targets or by posting a fast enough time in a sanctioned race to qualify.
Bontaites and her childhood friend from Denmark used that first door to get into the New York Marathon, running the race to benefit research into the blood cancer multiple myeloma.
“We agreed that we would do it [together] from beginning to end, so if I had to stop, she had to stop,” Bontaites said. “We just kind of laughed and talked the whole way through.”
But around Mile 18, the friend floated an idea that proved irresistible.
“She said, ‘The least you could do, since I came all the way to New York, would be to run Copenhagen and run the next one at home. I don’t think you’re done with this,’” Bontaites said.
Medals in hand, the pair went back to their hotel room and signed up for the Copenhagen Marathon about six months later.
“It became the beginning of not just a one-and-done but this journey to challenge myself physically and mentally,” Bontaites said.
She added that she will forever be grateful to her husband and her three children, who were ages 12, 10 and 8 when she started, for allowing her to chase her dream.
Given that she was starting her career of running 26.2 miles a little later in life than many, Bontaites said she figured it would be smart to take her training seriously, beginning her program about 20 weeks in advance of the races.
The preparation involved running progressively longer distances initially at least three or four days a week, incorporating some cross training, and then tapering off those distances as race day neared.
“It’s important to rest your body and not overexert yourself because your body does have to heal,” she said.
After New York, a personal challenge
Each of the six majors is memorable in its own way, Bontaites said.
“New York was fabulous on so many levels,” she said. “The crowds are incredible.”
Runners traverse five different boroughs, and each has a different vibe and feel, Bontaites said.
When she trains, Bontaites said she runs with earphones in, which helps pass the time.
But, with her best friend at her side, she was not going to tune out any part of the day.
“I just soaked it all in, and just kind of let myself be part of the overall experience,” she said.
One part of that experience was humbling, Bontaites explained. Around Mile 8, there is a huge television set up in Brooklyn, where the crowd and runners alike can see what’s happening ahead of them at the finish line. In Bontaites’ case, that meant watching the world’s elite runners crossing the finish line, even as she still had two-thirds of the race to go.
“It was pretty inspiring to see them going through what looked to be effortlessly the finish line as we were beginning our journey,” she said.
After running in New York and Copenhagen, Bontaites set her sights on her hometown race, the Boston Marathon in 2018. But asking again for donations from the people who had generously supported the multiple myeloma charity did not feel quite right, so Bontaites decided to challenge herself to post a qualifying time, which for her age group was three hours, 55 minutes.
“I worked with a coach whose company is called Going the Distance, and he had a 97% success rate of having people qualify for Boston,” Bontaites explained. “I thought, ‘I’m not gonna be the 3% that does not qualify.’”
The training felt like a second full-time job, Bontaites said. But it did the trick. She ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 3:49, far enough from the qualifying line that she was assured a bib, even if an inordinate number of would-be qualifiers tried to sneak in just under the 3:55 line.
“After I did that, I was like, ‘You know what? That is more than I ever thought I could possibly accomplish,’” she said.
Chipping away at the world major races became the primary goal, her times less important.
“Not that my times weren’t desirable, but they definitely were never going to be the 3:49 ever again, and I was OK with that,” she said.
Two types of rain
The weather — “sleety, rainy, horrific conditions” — threw Bontaites a curveball in Boston.
Along the route, Bontaites sought out solace in the porta-potties, just to have a moment of warmth.
“It was like a survival thing,” she said.
Indeed, she would later learn that several of her friends had to be pulled off the course after developing extreme hypothermia.
Given the conditions, Bontaites figured that she would not see many people lining the streets. But she was wrong.
“I mean, I had to be there because I was running the marathon,” she said. “But I thought, ‘If you don’t have to do this, why on God’s green earth are you out here?’”
She continued, “It just goes to show the strength and the power in the community of Boston, and how much they really come out to support the runners, support their people.”
The sense of accomplishment of finishing that miserable race propelled Bontaites to finish the series.
“I might have just called it ‘two and done,’” she said. “But then I thought, ‘OK, it can’t get any worse than that.”
Next up was Berlin in 2019, which allowed Bontaites to visit with family in Denmark ahead of the race. The friend who had run New York with her had injured her knees and could not run but was there as a cheerleader. However, she did have a running companion, Ann Massey of Swampscott, who had embarked on her own quest to complete the world majors
It rained throughout the race in Berlin, too, but unlike Boston, it was a warm, pleasant rain and did not detract from the experience at all as Bontaites and Massey — their ambitions for posting a fast time kept in check by some minor training injuries — soaked in the history of old Berlin and new Berlin and listened to the music being played along the route.
Family affair
Bontaites’ next marathon was a family affair. She and her sister, who lives in Chicago, ran the 2021 race on the same day, though not in tandem.
The race culminated with a big family celebration.
“All the cousins got to hang out together and celebrate their moms finishing this race, so that was special and, I’ve been told, very inspiring for our kids,” she said.
London in 2023 was Bontaites’ penultimate race in the majors circuit. She ran for Whiz Kids, a charity that raises funds to provide wheelchairs for children in the U.K.
The vast majority of participants in the London Marathon are running for charity, which brings out throngs of enthusiastic volunteers and supporters connected with those charities, creating an energy that trumps even Boston, which is saying a lot, Bontaites said.
“The crowds and the energy are just off the charts,” she said. “You just are uplifted the entire way. The course from beginning to end is absolutely breathtaking. There’s never any downtime or sleepy parts of the route. It just is absolutely gorgeous. But the power of the charities and the communities and those who live in London who come to cheer you on is really like nothing else.”
Grand finale
Like Bontaites, most runners who finish the world majors tend to use Tokyo as their “grand finale,” given the distance they need to travel to get there.
The race is also very difficult to get into. For this year’s race, there were over 300,000 applicants, and about 80% of the spots are reserved for the world’s elite runners.
Bontaites would again be running for charity, but that offered no guarantees.
“They want to make sure that your heart is in the right place, and that you truly have a connection to the charity,” Bontaites said.
She ran for Ronald McDonald House, writing in her essay about friends who have children who have gone through pediatric cancer and the importance of ensuring that families have comfortable places to go while their children are undergoing treatment.
Bontaites had been advised not to expect the crowds to be as boisterous as in the United States and London “because that’s just not how Japanese people are wired.”
The race met that expectation. There was some quiet clapping and enthusiastic head nods, but no yelling and screaming.
“You could see the warmth and the happiness and the support and the love from the locals, but it wasn’t this bananas crazy United States mentality as people are running by,” Bontaites said. “It was definitely much more of a ‘we’re here for you, but we respect that this is your time, and this is your journey, so we’re politely cheering you on.’”
One of the defining characteristics of the world majors is that runners will be immersed in a rich cultural experience while on the route. By this measure, Tokyo certainly qualifies, Bontaites said.
Runners pass through any number of historic sites and Shibuya, Tokyo’s equivalent of Times Square.
“When you cross the finish line, you do it right by the Imperial Palace,” Bontaites said.
Like the other runners, Bontaites got her Tokyo medal. Then, she was ushered over to where cheering representatives of the other world major marathons were waiting to offer hugs and take pictures with the newest members of an exclusive club that now numbers about 13,000 worldwide.
“You feel like you just hit the jackpot,” Bontaites said. “It was pretty, pretty incredible.”
Even though she was about 6,700 miles from home, Bontaites was joined in Tokyo by her friend and fellow runner, Jenni Leikikh, and her husband. They did some sightseeing together, having arrived in Japan early enough to shake off the jet lag and acclimate to the time change.
Bontaites and Leikikh were in different corrals at the start of the race, but Bontaites caught up to her at Mile 22, and they ran the final 4.2 miles together.
“That was another pretty incredible moment and a great way to finish that race, in and of itself,” she said.
What’s next?
As for her next goal, Bontaites said she would like to find a way to redirect her energy to benefit others. A CEO for whom she used to work is involved in Achilles International, which trains people who are blind, deaf or have other disabilities to participate in endurance events around the globe.
There are other innovative programs that pair distance runners with homeless people.
“I’m not going to say I’m done with marathons, but [the Six Star Medal] gives you the opportunity to say, ‘OK, I’ve checked this big box. How do I take that and give back with the time that I otherwise have been training?’” she said.
