Check out the most recent deep dives from Coach John!

Check out what happened in June, from our new monthly newsletter written by LAC Board Member, Catherine Xie!

LAC had another wonderful month with plenty of action on the track, roads, and trails. The weather ranged from hot and sunny to cold and rainy, but that did not stop us from getting our runs in or meeting many new members (welcome Madeline, Anne, Colleen, Mitalene, Sarah, and Marge)!

Although our first fun run of the month was rained out, in mid-May, Erin led a lovely run along the river to support For All Mothers, and during the same weekend, several of our members competed in races all over. It has been amazing to see so many of you getting together for bike rides, swims, runs, and races (check out Slack for more photos)!

We especially want to highlight Jas Lee, who performed phenomenally at the Season Opener Triathlon in Hopkinton (along with fellow Liberty member Kelly Chiu) just a year after her bike crash last year. Jas's incredible strength is truly an inspiration to all of us, and it has been amazing to witness her comeback journey. This is just the beginning!

With the Harvard track having been occupied due to Boston Calling, the team got together for a fartlek workout along the river. We also just had a wonderful night this past Tuesday pairing up with TrailblazHers at the extra-long track at Roberto Clemente field! A big thank you to Caitlin for helping to make this event happen with Jeanne and for giving a fantastic tutorial to track newcomers. We hope to have more collaborations between the two groups moving forward!

2025 Boston Marathon LAC Invitational Bib Holders - Julie, Caitlin & Joanne (pictured below), crushed the race!

April may have been the most active Liberty month of the year so far! With Frank Nealon, The 26.TRUE/Boston Marathon, and the James Joyce Ramble - we had plenty of folks repping the Liberty blue in our team races. We made the best of the rainy and windy April weather at our Harvard outdoor track sessions, on the carriage roads in Newton, and our fun run through the Arnold Arboretum! 

We started off the month strong with 21 Liberty members who crushed the rolling hills at the most recent USATF-NE Grand Prix Race - the Frank Nealon 15K. Our open team placed 9th (Catherine, Madeline, Mimi, Tara, Helen), 40+ team 6th (Mimi, Tara, Helen, Lauren, Judy), 50+ team 4th (Mimi, Lauren, Judy), and 60th team 3rd (Lauren, Judy, Jackie). And Jan set yet another W80-84 world record!

A couple weekends later was a big marathon weekend, with several of our members also competing in the Boston 5K (Alda, Anne, Loomis, and Jennifer who completed the race as a shakeout for Boston - some also got to take a picture with Joanie!). 

Congrats to all our outstanding marathoners who ran either 26.TRUE, Boston, or London this month:

26.TRUE: Dru (first marathon!), Jeanne, Melissa

Boston: Mary C., Julie C. (first marathon!), Joanne, Erin, Jennifer, Heather, Caitlin, Hélène, and Veronique

London: Amanda, Jess

We celebrated our marathoners (and Coach John's birthday) at our last track practice - complete with homemade carrot cake from Melanie!

A big thank you as well to our team members who volunteered at the 26.TRUE cheer station with Black Girls Run and Black Men Run Boston, the Boston Marathon bib pick-up, and the Liberty mile 21 cheer zone for Boston! 

Finally, today was the James Joyce Ramble 10K, which also served as the national USATF master's 10K championship race. We got lots of Liberty cheers from spectators with our big blue wave! We'll leave it to Coach John for the full recap, but first, a big congrats to our 60's team for placing 2nd: Mary (2nd 60-64), Lauren (3rd 60-64), and Viki (5th 60-64)!

Liberty Athletic Club wants to encourage greater participation on Liberty Teams in USA Track & Field (USATF) races with a team component, at both the local and national levels.  Liberty understands that the growing cost of racing may be a disincentive to participation, and launched this program last year, in hopes that it would encourage more of our members to join us on the starting line. The program was a success, and we are continuing it in calendar year 2025, and increasing the maximum annual reimbursement to $100 for local races, and to $250 for participation in designated National races. 

The purpose of this written policy is to establish the reimbursement guidelines for race-related expenses.

We are proud of our former teammate Lynn Jennings for her stunning athletic achievements and her indomitable courage.