Here’s how Westford residents performed in the 2026 Boston Marathon

BOSTON — Several current and former Westford residents competed in the 130th Boston Marathon, held on Patriots Day, Monday, April 20.

Conditions were brisk for a late April morning, with high temperatures only in the mid-to-upper 40s, as hundreds of thousands of people lined the 26.2 mile-long course from Hopkinton to Boston to watch the 32,494 athletes take part in the race.

The marathon started off with the men’s and women’s wheelchair divisions around 9 a.m., which were won by Marcel Hug of Switzerland with 1:16:06 – his ninth Boston title – and Eden Rainbow-Cooper of the United Kingdom with 1:30:51 – her second Boston title.

Next came the men’s and women’s elite races, around 9:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., respectively. Those races were won by John Korir and Sharon Lokedi of Kenya, who finished in 2:01:52 and 2:18:51, respectively. Both won their second consecutive Boston titles this year.

Westford Finishers

Later, around 10 a.m., the first of four waves of the general field of runners, began. This included 16 runners currently residing in Westford, as well as dozens of others associated with town, who were running the marathon both competitively and in support of a charity. Some of these runners included Gerard Ottaviano and Scott Graham, who completed their 42nd and 40th straight Boston Marathon this year, finishing in 6:48:01 and 5:10:01.

The following are the names of Westford residents who made qualifying times, as well as their finishing results.

Other athletes running for charity included Jocelyne MacDonald, a physical therapist at the Miller Elementary School who ran in support of Adaptive Sports – a non-profit dedicated to increasing participation in sports among New England youth and adults who have visual or mobility impairments. MacDonald finished the race in 05:30:48.

Cassidy Competes

Brad Cassidy, a former Westford resident, Westford Academy and UMass Amherst graduate  as well as a six-year United States Army Veteran of the Afghanistan War ran in support of Fisher House – an organization dedicated to offering free lodging for families of wounded, injured, or ill service members and veterans, keeping families together during critical medical treatment.

WestfordCAT spoke to Cassidy to find out more on what inspired him to compete for charity.

“I think what really worked for me is having a really strong support network of other veterans as well, who can kind of talk through some of the emotions we’re all kind of feeling as we navigate the transition process,” Cassidy said. “I think it’s challenging for anybody. I can’t imagine what it’d be like for a family member, who on top of that, they have to go to the hospital, because they have a lot of medical illnesses that need to be treated, (which is) another reason why Fisher House really attracted me.”

Since growing up in Westford, Cassidy always knew he wanted to join the military. It was a goal which he had set early on, but a decision he solidified while in high school, leading to him joining the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while in college.

However, after six years in the army, Cassidy decided it was time to leave the military in 2023 and begin a new chapter in his life — running marathons.

“I slowly started enjoying doing those longer-distance events,” Cassidy said. “I trained about a year later for the Oklahoma City Marathon, did that, then I recently did the Philly Marathon. I think that one of the big things that draws me to marathon training is that the training itself a lot of time can be kind of boring and you are only with your thoughts. I think that now, especially when everyone is so obsessed with the screens and everything – and I’m 100% in that camp as well – it’s nice to be able to just disconnect for just an hour or two and fight through that boredom and get the ‘runners high’. So that’s kind of why I run, it was kind of forced upon me and I somehow developed a fondness for it.”

Cassidy finished the race in 04:14:38.

A Bit of History

Hosted by the Boston Athletic Association, the Boston Marathon has taken place every year since its inception on April 19, 1897, making it the world’s oldest continuously run annual marathon. It was only canceled twice in its history, for World War I in 1918 and for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The race was also canceled and postponed to October in 2021, also due to the pandemic and was called off following the 2013 bombing attack, which occurred during the general field portion of the race.

Since the attack 13 years ago, public safety has been a major point of concern before and during the marathon each year.

Bringing hundreds of thousands, to half a million spectators to the city each year, the marathon is considered the largest single-day sporting event in New England and one of the largest in the United States.

Westford Police Support

As part of this year’s efforts to ensure a safe and smooth-running race, four members of the Westford Police Department were deployed along the course of the race in Natick, as part of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council Regional Response Team and SWAT Team.

“Officer Bunyon, Sergeant Keins, Officer Fitzgerald and Officer Lincoln helped keep runners and spectators safe during the 130th running of the Boston Marathon,” the Westford Police Department shared in a social media post the day after the marathon. “The Westford Police Department is proud to support this world-class event and help ensure a safe experience for all. Congratulations to everyone who completed the grueling course!”