Meet the 2018 Xtra Mile Boston Marathon Team helping us to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Special Olympics Movement by running 26.2 miles for inclusion!‍

Allie Tearney is just one runner of our 26 member Boston Marathon team who's not only making a difference for in the lives of our athletes in 2018, but will have a lasting impact on Special Olympics Massachusetts that will help our movement and organization continue to support the athletes of today and tomorrow as we look forward towards the next 50 years of sports opportunities and inclusion!

Read on to learn more about Allie!

‍Where did you grow up? ''Cambridge, MA"

‍What do you do for work? How does this influence your experience with Special Olympics? ''I am a Special Education major on the Severe Disabilities Track at Vanderbilt University.  I am very passionate about this population and have been lucky enough to be an intern for SOMA for the past 3 summers.  I have also started a SO College Chapter at Vanderbilt this year."‍

What does Special Olympics mean to you? ''Special Olympics MA has changed my life immensely.  It has introduced me to forever friends, who are more like family, and it has taught me to compete and approach every challenge in life with confidence and with courage.  Anyone who has worked with this organization can agree with me when I say that one of my favorite parts of what I do as a Special Educator and as a Special Olympics MA Intern is seeing how athlete's lives are impacted and changed for the better from this program. The sense of elation and pride that the athletes feel when they have competed to their best abilities and accomplished something incredible is a feeling that I want to continue to work towards for each person I encounter in this population.  However, I want these same athletes to know their impact on me as a young girl growing up with them as my role models.  As I started my work with Special Olympics MA when I was an impressionable teenager, the values and life lessons that these athletes have taught me has shaped me into the person that I am today as they have inspired me to dedicate my life to Special Education.  Special Olympics MA has given me the confidence to be a runner, a leader, a teacher, and an outgoing person, showing me how to embrace all of my unique qualities. I want to continue giving my thanks to the organization and their athletes in any way that I possibly can, as I started last year when I ran the 2017 Boston Marathon and raised over $10,000 for Special Olympics MA.  It is hard to fully put into words how much this Special Olympics MA means to me and although I feel forever indebted to the athletes, staff, volunteers, coaches, and friends I have made along the way, I feel like I can begin to give back what the organization gave to me by raising awareness of how incredible this community is through my fundraising efforts and by being given the honor to wear an Xtra Mile tank on race day."

‍How did you get involved with Special Olympics? ''I have a family member who has a disability and participates in Special Olympics in another state.  After seeing how much Special Olympics has changed his life, I wanted to be able to volunteer myself so my brother and I looked in to joining the Brookline local program.  I have been involved with Special Olympics MA ever since."

‍What made you decide to run the Boston Marathon? ''I ran it last year for SOMA and had such an incredible, life changing experience.  I knew as I was running it in 2017 that I HAD to come back for round 2."

‍Do you have a motto? ''Special Olympics Athlete Oath! ''Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."

‍What on your bucket list that you've done that you are most proud of? ''Running a marathon, skydiving, bungee jumping"

‍Support Allie in her Fundraising Efforts Today!

‍Want to run, bike, or participate in a triathlon to support Special Olympics Massachusetts? Join the Xtra Mile Today!