For Krystal Buckley, crossing the finish line on Boston’s Boylston Street never gets old.
Buckley, 35, of Peterborough completed the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 20, for the third time, finishing with a time of 3:25 — five minutes under her qualifying standard. That means she has already secured eligibility to return in 2027.
“When you turn left onto Boylston Street, and you see that finish line, and you hear the crowd — it’s chilling,” Buckley said. “My third time, I started crying again.”
A lifelong runner, Buckley said she ran her first marathon in 2017 — the Disney Marathon — where she posted a qualifying time that earned her a spot at Boston back in 2018. She returned in 2021, running the race while 16 weeks pregnant with her daughter.
The emotional peak of this year’s race came during one of its most grueling stretches known as Heartbreak Hill. This stretch of the course includes a series of climbs in Newton that test runners both physically and mentally in the final miles.
Then, she saw her sister-in-law and niece cheering from the sideline.
“I felt like death going up that hill, and then I saw them screaming my name, and it made me smile,” she said. “Your adrenaline just goes. It means a lot for people to come out and cheer.”
Back home, Buckley’s son, 6-year-old Weston, watched the race live from his aunt’s second-grade classroom at Peterborough Elementary School. Buckley’ s sister, who teaches there, pulled him from his first-grade class so he could watch the livestream.
“We didn’t take [the kids] to Boston with us,” she said. “It’s too much. Too many people.”
Beyond her own running, Buckley coordinates the Healthy Kids Running Series in Peterborough, a youth program serving children ages 2 to 14 across the Monadnock and Cheshire regions. Her son has begun running 5Ks alongside her.
“He seems to enjoy it,” she said. “He likes it when I run with him.”
For anyone curious about taking up running, Buckley offered simple advice: don’t be intimidated.
“It’s one foot in front of the other. It’s your own race,” she said. “I’ve gained so much confidence in myself just from running. There’s free training plans online. There’s coaches. You can try it — if you don’t like it, just movement in any way helps anyone.”
And the Boston Marathon is something everyone should experience, with runners helping struggling competitors cross the finish line and crowds cheering from miles one to 26.
“Whether you’re running, spectating, or volunteering, I think it’s something everyone should experience,” Buckley said. “The atmosphere in Boston on Marathon Monday is just amazing.”
