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Fight to the Finish

Jenna Haglund competes and completes first Boston Marathon

Fight to the Finish
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Charles City resident Jenna Haglund, left, smiles at husband Karl — who took this photo — as she approaches the 24-mile mark during Monday’s Boston Marathon.

Press Staff Report
Not everyone gets to run the Boston Marathon.

And even among those who qualify, not everyone finishes.

During the infamous “Heartbreak Hill” section of Monday’s 123rd race, a female competitor running next to Charles City resident Jenna Haglund became a casualty when she went down and had to be attended to by EMTs and the Boston PD.

Haglund, who had qualified for the race by way her performance at the 2017 Des Moines Marathon, almost became a casualty herself. On pace for a prequalifying time for the 2020 Boston Marathon through the halfway mark, Haglund became hampered with worrisome pain in her calves and one of her knees.

Forced to pull back from her previous pace for fear that her knee might buckle, Haglund managed to fight through the pain and finish the race in 4 hours, 17 minutes — 25-30 minutes off her normal marathon pace.

Back in town and already doing treadmill work to start “waking her legs back up,” Haglund mentioned that her favorite part of the race was negotiating the “Scream Tunnel” comprised of girl students from Wellesley College, and giving then “high-fives” as she passed them along the course.

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