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Astronaut Suni Williams, who was stuck aboard the International Space Station for months after trouble with an experimental spacecraft, finished the 130th Boston Marathon in 5:52:49. “So many people were shouting,” she said. “It kept me going.” Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore returned to Earth in March 2025 after a planned one-week test flight into space turned into a 286-day odyssey when they experienced issues with their vehicle’s thrusters.She said her body needed time to adjust to training under the strain of gravity.”Just picking up my legs, using my hip flexors, I think that’s one of those things that sort of went away in space. Because you don’t have to fight against gravity. So just sort of shuffling, I felt like I was doing for a while. Finally I can run,” Williams said. Williams, 60, a former Navy captain, spent more than 27 years at NASA, logging 608 days in space over three station missions. She also set a record for the most spacewalking time by a woman: 62 hours during nine excursions.Williams retired from NASA at the end of the year.She told sister station WCVB that her first Boston Marathon experience was at age 17. She also ran the marathon on a treadmill aboard the ISS during a flight in 2007, but said the experience of running this race on the ground is unbeatable.”Boston is behind you the whole way, so it is pretty awesome,” she said. This year, the Boston Athletic Association honored Williams with the Patriot Award, which is presented annually to a patriotic, philanthropic and inspirational figure.Williams had previously indicated her intent to run the Boston Marathon when she served as the keynote speaker at the Merrimack College graduation ceremony in May.
Astronaut Suni Williams, who was stuck aboard the International Space Station for months after trouble with an experimental spacecraft, finished the 130th Boston Marathon in 5:52:49.
“So many people were shouting,” she said. “It kept me going.”
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Williams and fellow astronaut Butch Wilmore returned to Earth in March 2025 after a planned one-week test flight into space turned into a 286-day odyssey when they experienced issues with their vehicle’s thrusters.
She said her body needed time to adjust to training under the strain of gravity.
“Just picking up my legs, using my hip flexors, I think that’s one of those things that sort of went away in space. Because you don’t have to fight against gravity. So just sort of shuffling, I felt like I was doing for a while. Finally I can run,” Williams said.
Williams, 60, a former Navy captain, spent more than 27 years at NASA, logging 608 days in space over three station missions. She also set a record for the most spacewalking time by a woman: 62 hours during nine excursions.
Williams retired from NASA at the end of the year.
She told sister station WCVB that her first Boston Marathon experience was at age 17. She also ran the marathon on a treadmill aboard the ISS during a flight in 2007, but said the experience of running this race on the ground is unbeatable.
“Boston is behind you the whole way, so it is pretty awesome,” she said.
This year, the Boston Athletic Association honored Williams with the Patriot Award, which is presented annually to a patriotic, philanthropic and inspirational figure.
Williams had previously indicated her intent to run the Boston Marathon when she served as the keynote speaker at the Merrimack College graduation ceremony in May.
