Linda Miles was out for a lunchtime jog with a friend on Tuesday, but when she runs the 2023 Boston Marathon in April, it will be with her daughter Laura Miles-Doucette.
"She's the one who got me involved in running," Miles said. “And just the thought that we'd be able to run Boston together was just a dream come true."
The pair had earned their spots in the 2020 Boston Marathon with qualifying runs in the 2019 Fredericton Marathon.
Both would have been first-timers at the world’s most famous footrace, but COVID-19 had other plans. For the first time in the Boston Marathon's now 127-year history, the 2020 race was cancelled.
"We pretty well knew months before that we wouldn't be going. It was disappointing," Miles said.
Later that year, they ran their 42.2 kilometres anyway - virtually, on the streets of Sydney, N.S.
It only fuelled the pair’s fire to get back to Boston for the in-person race.
Just a few weeks ago, both mother and daughter received the email they were waiting for.
They were accepted into next year's race.
"Oh, I was just thrilled. I was so happy. I was so relieved," Miles said.
Trish Walsh is one of the pair’s training partners. She says their entire group -- known as the Sixties Squad, referring to the age of most members -- is thrilled for the mother-daughter duo.
"They persevered. It was a disappointment for them but they just decided when the time came for them again, they were going to do it," Walsh said. “They did it.”
What's left now is a hard winter of training. On the toughest days, they'll count on their special connection to help see them through.
"It's a cliché, but we are friends," Miles said. “I depend on her probably a lot more than she depends on me these days."
To top their story off, the elder Miles didn't start running until she was in her 60s.
When she runs Boston, she'll be a year shy of 70.
It’s an impressive accomplishment for anyone, but to do it with her daughter, she admits it feels a bit like fate.
"It's unique, and how lucky we are," Miles said.
Miles and her daughter will be among 30,000 runners from all over the world when the 127th Boston Marathon takes place April 17, 2023.
