MARATHON EDITION IT ALL STARTS HERE!
HMS principal runs for school
Vol. 22 | No. 20 | October 6, 2021
COMMEMORATIVE
HOPKINTON INDEPENDENT
Marathon pioneer Gibb immortalized in bronze
2021 ISSUE
By Chris Villani Contributing Writer Hopkinton Middle School Principal Alan Keller is running the Boston Marathon to raise funds for the Desire to Inspire program.
By Mary Ellen Gambon Contributing Writer
P
rincipal Alan Keller has been running Hopkinton Middle School for the past 12 years. Now he is running — literally — in the Boston Marathon to support his school’s Desire to Inspire program. Keller first ran the race in 2012, the year before the marathon bombing. He became familiar with the event after meeting his wife, a Newton native, years before and moving to Massachusetts about two decades ago. He watched the race on the sidelines with Keller | 11
PRST-STD U.S. Postage PAID Hopkinton, MA 01748 Permit No. 109 ECRWSS Postal Patron
INSIDE
W
hen children are young, they tend to gravitate toward joyful activities like art and running, Bobbi Gibb has observed. Now 78, Gibb says, “I just never stopped doing those things.” “I have always loved to run,” she said. “And I kept on running, even when other people had stopped.” Gibb is the first woman to run the entire Boston Marathon and she is recognized as a three-time winner in the Pioneer Women’s Division in 1966, 1967 and 1968. She also is a lifelong artist, and the two passions were to meet when a sculpture, her self-portrait, was unveiled Oct. 5 at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts. The sculpture will be displayed at the HCA until the completion of the Main Street Corridor Project, at which time it will be installed at the corner of Main Street and Hayden Rowe Street. Gibb | 9
Page 6: Fire Chief Miller tabbed as race starter Page 7: ‘Love Letters’ film welcomes marathoners Page 8: Hoyt’s legacy lives on in Hopkinton Page 14: Upalekar runs virtual race to help India Page 15: Resilience key for CrossFit runners Page 18: Dragsbaek back to run 15th Boston for PJB Bobbi Gibb, shown sculpting her selfportrait, still runs, some 55 years after she became the first woman to complete the Boston Marathon.
Page 20: Pete continues 21st century streak
Wishing you well every step of the way!