BOSTON — Alaina Belanger lives near the end of Boylston Street.
The former Deerfield Academy and Hampshire Regional runner walks by the Boston Marathon finish line all the time.
On Monday during the 120th edition, Belanger finally got to cross it.
She did so in 5 hours, 46 minutes, 8 seconds — about 45 minutes slower than her previous two marathons, both in the fall on Cape Cod.
“The race did not go quite as planned. I had some hydration issues,” Belanger said. “I think I was over-hydrated, so I got really nauseous around mile 13. I definitely blame it on heat.”
Seeing friends helped pull Belanger through the last half of the race.
She saw her Kappa Gamma Chi sorority sisters from Emerson College near Boston College and kept picking familiar faces out of the crowd until the finish.
But the time didn’t matter as much as who Belanger was running for.
She initially received her bib number from Chris Dobbins, who started the “Boston Strong” movement after the 2013 attacks.
Belanger and Dobbins are resident advisors at Emerson.
Even with a bib assured, Belanger decided to apply for a charity and chose Massachusetts Fallen Heroes. She ran in memory of her cousin, Army Sgt. Gregory Belanger, from Deerfield, who was killed in Iraq in 2003.
“We were really close. He was always around,” Belanger said. “He was kind of like a son to my father.”
Belanger raised more than $1,000 for Massachusetts Fallen Heroes.
Running Monday also helped her process and find closure from the 2013 bombings at the finish line.
That occurred during her freshman year at Emerson and Belanger wanted to run the marathon by her senior year.
“I’ve watched the marathon since I was 5 years old. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. The bombings happened, and it was something I realized I shouldn’t be scared of and keep shooting for that goal,” Belanger said. “When I got this entry I realized I didn’t want to just do this marathon for myself, I wanted to do it for my family and to show them how much I love them. It was really great to be able to run down Boylston and say ‘I did it.’”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.