Cabin Fever, Song in Her Heart Propels MET Student to Marathon

It takes tremendous will to run a marathon. To go the considerable distance, runners draw deeply from all kinds of reserves. For Olivia Clachar, a BU employee who is capitalizing on her benefits by pursuing her BS in Management Studies at MET, it was the confinement born of the global pandemic that sparked a fire under her heels. “COVID was giving me cabin fever. I just needed to get out in the elements and be outdoors,” she told BU Today.

Last year, Clachar got her running start thanks to the support of Black Girls Run, a group dedicated to making organized running more inclusive to those historically excluded. This year, Clachar got a chance to give back by dedicating her participation in the 2022 Boston Marathon to the charity Trinity Boston Connects (TBC), a faith-based organization aimed at healing wounds born of institutional racism.

Clachar has a secret weapon to aid in her endurance—belting out a tune. “By the point where it’s a little grueling for me, I will absolutely sing,” she says.