All Adrianne Haslet wanted on Monday around 3:15 p.m.?
“I’m really in need of champagne and french fries,” she said moments after finishing the 2022 Boston Marathon.
The 41-year-old ballroom dancer who lost a leg in the 2013 explosions, finished in 5:18:41 — but she said afterward that the hours flew by, mostly because of the woman by her side.
Haslet ran with a support runner, but it wasn’t just any support. It was Marblehead native Shalane Flanagan, the Olympic medalist and New York City Marathon champion. Haslet had approached Flanagan in December to help her reach her goal of finally running Boston again. Flanagan, who retired from pro running in 2019, was quick to commit. It seems like it was the right choice.
“I did not notice the mile markers until 22, 23,” Haslet told WBZ after the race. “Not that I wasn’t feeling it in my body, but I didn’t notice the mile-markers. I was just having so much fun with Shalane and with Boston and beyond. It was amazing.”
Haslet has tried to reach this point before. In fact, after she lost her leg, she did run — she finished in 2016 on a prosthetic. She tried again in 2018. Couldn’t do it. She planned to return in 2019, but she faced another setback when she was struck by a car. She suffered injuries and had to undergo surgery.
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We know the rest of the story — 2020′s race was canceled; 2021′s field was minimized due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Finally, in 2022, Haslet got her chance. And she couldn’t hide her emotion about it.
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“It was just so amazing,” she said through tears. “And I’ve been through so much trauma, and tried so many times to get to that start line, and I kept having to start over, and I’m so proud of myself for getting through.”
Haslet said she felt “shockingly good” in the immediate aftermath of the race.
“I’ve never felt more support and more love from the city,” she said. “I think every runner can say that. I just can’t believe that just happened.
“I’ll remember every face, and every sign and every dog and baby along that course.”
Haslet was surrounded by cameras other than WBZ’s at the conclusion. She said she’s filming an IMAX movie, which she hopes will help inspire kids whose bodies are different. If they “see someone like me running and completing something like this,” they’ll believe they can do anything.
Haslet could hardly believe it was real herself.
“It’s shocking. I don’t think it’s real yet,” she said. “I didn’t want it to end, and I never thought I would say that. I didn’t want to keep running either, but I didn’t want it to end.”
After so much tragedy in the past decade, so many setbacks before getting to this moment, Haslet still had the words to sum it up perfectly.
“It was the best day of my life. I’m so proud of us.”
Katie McInerney can be reached at katie.mcinerney@globe.com. Follow her @k8tmac.