Sports In The Making

Mary Kate Shea - Sr. Director of Sports Marketing & Sponsorship, John Hancock

Episode Summary

Mary Kate Shea selects the marathon runners for the world's most prestigious running event - The Boston Marathon. She talks about her role and the relationship between financial firm John Hancock and the Boston Athletic Association, how she selects the best distance runners in the world and her personal stories and memories for one of the oldest marathons in the world.

Episode Notes

• 2:34 - What Mary Kate Shea does in her role as Senior Director with John Hancock.
• 3:27 - How she got to John Hancock and what the company’s role is with the Boston Marathon.
• 5:09 - How she was able to make this career and her background on marathons.
• 09:36 - 2013 was the first year she took the reigns of the Boston Marathon’s elite athletes and a treetops view of what her job entails including checking the athletes on race day.
• 10:55 - Meg Keflezhigi checking in and on his bib he honored those that died in the bombing tragedy.
• 13:00 - What the energy was like in 2014, the year after the bombing.
• 15:04 - What makes an event like the Boston Marathon special from other sports and other races.
• 16:27 - How much the Boston Marathon and John Hancock has raised for charity.
• 17:58 - What her process for selecting elite athletes is like leading up to this year’s (2020) Boston Marathon.
• 21:26 - Some elite athletes have amazing stories about what they’ve done with their victories.
• 22:23 - How well she is able to know the elite athletes and how she’s developed relationships.
• 24:16 - How winning the Boston Marathon is a life changing event and one of the memorable gifts she’s received from an elite athlete.
• 25:44 - What the 48 hours before a race is like.
• 28:14 - A question she always asks the elite athletes when checking in on Marathon Monday.
• 28:44 - What happens on the journey to Hopkington, the start of the Boston Marathon.
• 30:39 - After the elite athletes start, what she does to get back to the finish line.
• 32:18 - John Hancock’s training program.
• 33:11 - Her most memorable moments in Boston Marathon history.  Meb’s win, the weather in 2018 and the surprise in the women’s field.
• 35:34 - How she recruited eventual Boston Marathon Champion, Yuki Kawauchi.
• 38:57 - What it meant for her that Meb and Des ended the drought for American runners in the Boston Marathon.
• 41:19 - How she views Push Rim Athlete Tatyana McFadden.
• 42:00 - Tatyana McFadden’s rival, Manuela Schar.
• 42:32 - Men’s Push Rim Athlete Daniel Romanchuck.
• 42:32 - Comparing the Boston Marathon to other marathon races.
• 44:41 - What these words or phrases mean to Mary Kate Shea:
  • Hopkington
  • Scream Tunnel at Wellesley College
  • Newton Fire Station
  • Heartbreak Hill
• 46:41 - How she helps the elite runners scout Heartbreak Hill
  • Turning onto Boylston Street toward the finish line
  • Crossing the Finish Line
  • Celebrating after the race
• 48:59 - What Mary Kate would like people to know about the Boston Marathon that they might not otherwise know.