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By Marty Hastings

POUNDING PAVEMENT

Kamloops ‘running besties’ helped push each other to Boston Marathon

Apr 15, 2025 | 4:47 PM

KAMLOOPS — Alexa McMillan and Jillian Neufeld first bonded during the 2023 Boogie The Bridge half-marathon, a happenstance pairing that stuck together for about 15 kilometres and embraced at the finish line.

They have since coined themselves “running besties” and have pushed each other to the Boston Marathon, which will take place on Monday (April 21, Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts).

“And now I’ve just watched her flourish into this incredible long-distance runner,” Neufeld said.

“She is so intense. She does 50-kilometre trail races, as well, so fast. She has so much potential and I just know that she’s going to kill it in Boston.”

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McMillan took up long-distance running more recently than Neufeld.

“It was her that encouraged me to sign up for this marathon,” McMillan said. “I doubted myself so much, like, ‘I can’t run a marathon.’ I really owe a lot to her for opening up that door. We’ve just become such great friends.”

Neufeld said she botched several attempts to qualify for the Boston Marathon, but finally posted a qualifying time of three hours, 19 minutes and 55 seconds in Calgary to punch her ticket.

“It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I did it,’” Neufeld said. “I rang the Boston Bell. It was pouring. I was drenched. I was freezing. It was so, so good. So sweet.”

Neufeld wore a shirt on Tuesday (April 15) that was signed by friends and members of the So Far So Good Run Crew, of which she is a leader.

Passerby Ron Bain caught a glimpse of colourful attire and the CFJC Today camera Tuesday and asked if the ladies were in training.

He participated in the 100th anniversary of the Boston Marathon in 1996.

“People come from all over the world,” Bain said. “And it’s just such an atmosphere. You’re always with a lot of people. And the finish line is spectacular, as well. When you’re coming up to those final few-hundred metres and you’ve got it, and the people are just crowding and cheering you on. It’s amazing.”

More than 500,000 spectators are likely to be cheering runners on Monday, which will mark the 129th edition of the Boston Marathon, first held in 1897.

“I have two young girls. They’re pretty much my driving force for a lot of my races,” said McMillan, who posted a qualifying time of 3:19:39 at the BMO Vancouver Marathon. “I use them as my motivation for when I’m in that marathon and everything is starting to hurt and I say, you know, ‘You’re doing this for them to show them that you can do hard things.’”

McMillan and Neufeld – who expect to run the race with another Kamloopsian, Gillian Emery — will help each other navigate nutrition, sleep, travel and nerves in the lead up to the race.

“It almost still doesn’t even feel real,” McMillan said. “It feels like a dream. There’s so much work that has to go into qualifying for these World Marathon Majors. And to think that I’m going with one of my closest run friends and that we get to go to that start line together and, you know, cross off one of the biggest bucket lists we have is incredible for us.”

Neufeld expects to finish behind McMillan, but they will embrace at the finish line and plan to be together for the rest of the night.

“We’re going to eat a bunch of food, we’re going to have so much wine and it’s going to be amazing,” Neufeld said.