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

Sports In The Making

• 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.