SONH Runs the 128th Boston Marathon®

Liam and Brian training on the Derry Rail Trail

SONH athlete Liam McNeil is part of Hudson Special Olympics and a student at Alvirne High School. He’s been running since 2013. He will be running in the Boston Marathon in 2024 representing SONH athletes. Brian Allard is the Assistant Director of the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office and a long-time runner. He has also taken part in the New Hampshire Law Enforcement Torch Run to benefit SONH. He will be partnered with Liam, and the duo will be running Boston as a fundraiser for Special Olympics New Hampshire. It will be the first time either of them has run the Boston Marathon and it will be Liam’s first-ever full marathon.

Liam has a fascinating story. He used a wheelchair until he was 3 or 4 years old. The first goal his doctors gave him was to ambulate 50 ft. To come from that, to now, as a soon to be 21-year-old and training to run the Boston Marathon


Thomas Cantara competing

SONH Thomas Cantara of Nashua will be running the Boston Marathon for the sixth time in 2024. He ran Boston in 2:38:25 in 2023. This year the Boston Athletic Association is introducing a new Para Athletics Division for athletes competing with intellectual disabilities. The change means that, depending on his finish time, Cantara could be eligible for prize money in 2024.