Boston Marathon Participant Interview

In honor of the Boston Marathon, we wanted to share an interview with a participant of the 2018 Boston Marathon!

Melissa is a Go2 socks fan who knows that compression socks are part of a healthy recovery.

Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed by Go2! To start, would you mind introducing yourself?

• My name is Melissa Flick, I’m a personal trainer, spin instructor, group exercise instructor, dryland coach for a competitive USA swimming team, and running coach.  My hobbies are running, anything athletic, spending time with my daughter, husband, & two dogs.

What was it that got you passionate about running?

• I started running when I was in middle school, I had participated in many different sports, but running and long jump seemed to light a fire in me.  I spent my high school career running XC, distance events in winter & spring track, with 5k’s during the summer all over NJ.

Why did you decide to participate in the Boston Marathon?

• Running this year’s Boston Marathon was something very dear to my heart because it started as a promise to my dad. When I was in high school, I told my dad (while he was driving me to yet another 5k over summer) that I was going to run Boston and promised him he would see me cross the finish line. At that point my running career suddenly stopped because of a serious knee issue, but the hunger never went away for Boston. I went out last year, qualified for Boston, and then I started training for it. As race day approached, I knew the weather was going to be undesirable, but settled that it was out of my control. When Monday came, it was surreal for me. The conditions were harsh and unforgiving, but I never gave up and I know my dad saw me cross that line with arms raised for him.

What is your prerace fuel? How about post race?

• For my preface fuel, I eat a banana, some caffeine either coffee or AdvoCare spark, depending on the distance O2 Gold by Advocare and Alieve. While I’m running I will use Cliff Blocks with caffeine, GU, depending on the distance Alieve and O2 Gold.  For my post race I take Endurox and sleep!

What have you learned along the way? 

• Training and running both marathons have pushed me to physical and mental breaking points where I’ve learned to dig deeper then I could have ever imagined.  I have gained more confidence within myself, especially after Boston, that has allowed me to want to dream bigger and run faster. 

Do you run races locally? How many have you run?

• I do run local races, here in Massachusetts and many in Michigan when we lived there. I have run everything now from 5k’s to marathons, my sweet spot races are the halves, which I will be running more of those this summer!