In recent years, social media has brought major attention to the Boston Marathon, and people from all over New England flock to Boston to see their favorite “running influencers” in action. Many of these influencers are young women and men who make videos about the benefits of running, sharing their training journeys, and reviewing the latest running gear. 68 year old Mike Beeman has been made popular as one of these “running influencers”, having over 43 thousand followers on Tiktok. But, Beeman takes a different approach. On his Tiktok page, he shares grandfather-ly advice and stories about his life-long passion for running.
Originally from Derry, NH, Beeman has run the Boston Marathon for 48 straight years, including the year of and the year following the bombing in 2013. In a Tikok video posted on March 28th, he cites the 2013 marathon as his scariest marathon. Other than the Bostons, Beeman has run 63 other marathons including New York City, Bermuda, and San Diego. This year, Beeman completed the marathon in 5 hours and 35 minutes.
Beeman prides himself of being a friendly and approachable face both on and off the race route. His favorite part of the Boston Marathon is seeing all of the people cheering from the sidelines; especially at Wellesley College and Boston College. He talks fondly of interactions between him and various fans: this year, he ran 28 miles because of his trips too and from the sidelines to talk to fans. His favorite sign was large and glittery and read, “Slay the Day, Rep the Steps”: Beemans catchphrase, which originated after he finished his 47th Marathon in 2024. Along the route, Boston College is his favorite stop.
In talking to Beeman, it’s clear that he is very passionate about his running and teaching careers. During our conversation, he expressed that he didn’t think of himself as an influencer, and that he was surprised about how many people stopped to say hi and take a picture with him. He is very amazed by the amount of people that follow him and take inspiration from him. Beemna continues to run the Boston Marathon because of the energy that the fans bring, and so that he can “keep tacking on marathons”. He plans to continue running for as long as he can. Because he qualified for the Marathon over 25 times, Beeman is given legacy, and is able to enter the marathon without qualifying or raising money: the normal requirements for runners.
Beeman did not grow up running. In high school, he played football, basketball, and baseball. He started running after his sophomore year of high school to lose weight, and running slowly became a passion of his. However, basketball remained his main sport; and he was recruited to play basketball on a scholarship at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA. However, while he was at Merrimack, his propensity for running grew. He began running track in his sophomore year of college, and ran his first Marathon as a senior, in 1978.
After college, Beeman continued to run marathons, qualifying for the Boston Marathon 35 years in a row. Outside of running, he worked in Marketing for athletic shoes brands, including Converse and Nike. However, Beeman found his professional passion later in life and became a teacher, teaching Business and Economics to high schoolers. Outside of teaching, he coached cross country, basketball, and track.
Beeman equates marathons to life, saying that, “Marathons, like life, are a process: you’re gonna fail, you’re gonna see a lot of ups and downs; and you have to be patient and prepared.” Beeman is currently retired, and lives in South Carolina with his family.
Image Source: Beeman via Instagram