Determination and Crowd Support helped QCC Instructor Complete the 2018 Boston Marathon

The running of the 122nd Boston Marathon was not exactly what QCC alumni and part-time paramedic instructor Richard Nydam had in mind for his first try at Boston, but the horrible rain, cold and brutal head wind didn’t stop him from finishing the race. This is Mr. Nydam’s third marathon. He began to train for marathons about seven years ago to get in better physical health. Participants at the Boston Marathon must have a qualifying time in order to run, or be part of a team that runs for charity. While he didn't attain a qualifying time to get a bib number, he was able to run Boston by running for the charity, Cops for Kids with Cancer; raising close to $1,500.

“I used to run in high school but then I took 30 years off,” he said, before picking it back up.

Today, he trains with two of his friends Paul Normandin and Dominic Petruzzi, who also happen to be QCC alums from the college’s paramedic program.

“We all have to work at 6:30 or 7:30 in the morning so we do our training at 5 a.m.,” he said. “It’s so much nicer running with a friend.”

Mr. Nydam noted that working full-time at UMass as an educator in the paramedic department and teaching at QCC three nights a week, really only leaves the early mornings for weekday training.

He successfully completed the Marine Corps. Marathon in Washington, D.C. in 2015 and the Newport Rhode Island in 2016. According to Mr. Nydam, the Newport Marathon was also a particularly difficult race due to the weather.

“There was horribly cold driving rain and it was 38 degrees. I almost didn’t finish because of the weather,” he said.

However, he did finish in Newport and with an eerie sense of déjà vu, headed to Hopkinton on April 16 for the start of the race, this time better prepared clothing-wise than was in Newport.

As one of the first to graduate QCC’s paramedic program in 1987, he knows firsthand the toll this type of weather can take on your body.

“By mile nine I thought about dropping out and was just taking it one mile at a time but by mile 14 I knew I was going to finish,” he said.  “The crowds carried me through and kept me going.”

He crossed the finish line and was met by his two running buddies Mr. Normandin Mr. Petruzzi, capping off the end of the grueling 26.2 mile race.

One of the most impressive parts of his run in Boston may not have been the fact that he finished the race, but that he was at QCC the next day teaching his class.

“I had class to teach and an obligation,” he said with a chuckle, adding, “At UMass we see a lot of QCC students come through and we hire a lot of QCC grads."