Boston Marathon Survivor completes marathon years later

Five years after experiencing two bombs tear through the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Tayler Nichols sailed over the finish line to an explosion of cheers.

SWC’s long-distance EOPS counselor covered the 26.2-mile course in 4:33:19, somewhere behind Desiree Linder, the Hilltop High School alum who won the 2018 women’s race.

Nichols is a champion, her friends insist, for returning to Boston after the 2013 terror attack that killed three and wounded at least 260.

“That was a lot of fun and super inspiring to see these people who have come from all over the country, athletes who have prosthetic legs and athletes who are blind who are running it,” she said.

Nichols, 28, an SWC EOPS counselor and a professional development instructor since October 2015, was born in Honolulu. Her family moved to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was eight. Time on the soccer team at Clayton Valley High School in Concord helped condition her for long-distance running, she said.

“It was kind of an easy transition to go from soccer, where you run like seven to eight miles per game, to just running to keep in shape,” she said.

Nichols earned her BA in psychology with a minor in biology from Boston University and a Master’s in rehabilitation counseling from SDSU.

At BU she enrolled in a marathon running class that familiarized her with the fanfare of the Patriot’s Day and the nation’s oldest marathon.

During her senior year she participated in the marathon as a “bandit runner,” an unregistered participant who starts after the registered racers. That tradition was discontinued after the 2013 bombings.

In April 2013, while enrolled in graduate school at SDSU, she returned to Boston to watch her friend run the marathon. She wanted to watch the marathon near the finish line, but her cousin insisted on a spot a mile before the finish line.

A few moments after hearing the loud blasts, initial speculation was that it was a gas line explosion. It was not until her cousin received a text message warning them to stay away from the area that the reality of the situation began to sink in — terror had struck Boston.

She recalls the surreal situation, hearing ambulances all day and into the night because her cousin lived near a hospital that was treating victims.

“As we were walking home, and then as we were watching the news, we were just hearing ambulances going up and down,” she said.

In 2014, she officially ran the marathon for the first time with a finishing time of 5:03:51. She ran for a charity supporting the Boston Fire Dept. When a Boston firefighter training for the marathon was killed in action a few weeks prior, the Boston Fire Dept. was given a few extra number plates for runners. Thanks to a friend of a friend, she was told to just raise as much money as she could in the two weeks leading up to the marathon. She was able to raise $1,500.

This year was emotional, she said, because she ran for Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation, a charity organized through the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

“It is just a super exciting event to attend anyway whether you are running or not,” she said, “but running for a charity named after and essentially created by a family who was affected by the bombings is special.”

Her training for the marathon was a three-month journey that started in January, she said. During the work week she would vary between tempo, fartlek and “easy” runs. Tempo runs consist of running a shorter distance, but at a higher rate of speed. Fartlek is a Swedish word for “speed play” and involves alternating sprints and slow jogs. On the weekends were long runs at eight miles to 20 miles.

As an EOPS counselor she helps students with physical, academic or socioeconomic disadvantages to help “level the playing the field.” This includes a textbook stipend and loan program. EOPS students have to meet with counselors three times per semester, helping to create a bond to help the students both inside and outside of the classroom.

“So they can have that support here in college,” she said. “It is a whole other system to navigate and not knowing anyone who has navigated through that, it is helpful for students to meet with us.”

Nichols said mental toughness and preparation are key in reaching any goal, whether in running or education. Asking for help is OK.

“Although it’s challenging, they can do it, they can get to a place where they would feel more secure, more comfortable,” she said. “I think education really helps that.”

This year she raised $6,471 for Stepping Strong. She would like to run for the charity again someday.

“I had to put in a lot of hours to train and then to put in hours fundraising was like a part-time job.”